The True Child of Light
by VampCinder
Summary: Naruto discovers an ancient form of ninjutsu only compatible with those with the purest of souls. Light jutsu. Full mastery allows for a wide range of techniques from complex traps and gadgets to kickass light ninjutsu capable of high level destruction unique to our favorite blond prankster. Rated T for language and some dark themes. [Currently on indefinite hiatus]
1. Chapter 1: Fortunate Tumbles

**IMPORTANT: This Story was edited on 3/9/2017 at 11:30 AM**

 **Author's Note:** Hello everyone! Welcome to my first installment of "The True Child of Light".

Not only is this the first chapter of this story, but it is also the first story I have ever written. To the 2 people who might read this, please don't be hesitant to leave a harsh review if you see things wrong with my writing. I only strive to improve.

I suppose that I should tell you now that there will be no Female Kyuubi at all, don't expect it. I won't give away the pairing yet because it is somewhat important to the story.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or anything that isn't straight out of my own head. Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the official release.

"Sasuke-Teme." – Regular speech

 _'Baka!'_ – Internal thoughts

 _:Shannaro!:_ – Inner Sakura

 _-Random book mumbo jumbo stuff-_ –Books

 **"I swear I'm going to eat you brat."** – Bijuu talking

 ** _'Hmm. The kid isn't half bad.'_** – Bijuu thinking

 **"Katon: Goukakakyuu no Jutsu!"** (Fire release: Great Fireball Technique) – Jutsu

 **Chapter 1: Fortunate Tumbles**

 **Konohagakure no Sato, 11 years after the Kyuubi attack**

It was a normal morning in Konoha for most. Almost everyone was awake and following their regular morning routines by now.

Everyone except for one blond boy who was still asleep. Naruto Uzumaki was many things, but if there was one thing he wasn't, it was a morning person.

"Shit! I overslept again!"

Naruto rushed around his room frantically undressing from his pajamas to his regular "Kill me" orange jumpsuit. Seriously, there couldn't be a worse color for a ninja. And despite his undying love for orange, even Naruto knew it.

But what was he supposed to do? The shopkeepers always gave him such ridiculous prices on everything that they were all he could afford!

Today was the first day of the new academy year and Naruto simply couldn't afford to be late today.

"Dammit! My graduating class this year is finally my age group and I can't even show up on time?! What kind of shitty impression is that on the first day ya know?!" Naruto yelled as he ran around his apartment quickly getting ready for the day.

Naturally, Naruto already knew the other kids his age, but because he started the academy earlier than them, he was always two or three years ahead of them, and it wasn't like most of their parents let them see Naruto anywhere outside of school.

Hell, Naruto was pretty sure that if they could, they wouldn't let Naruto be at the school at all. Sure there were always a couple of cool guys whose parents didn't seem to flinch every time they saw Naruto like Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba, but a few friends couldn't counteract an entire school of ridicule.

Naruto frantically attempted to figure out how he could still get to the academy in time so that he wasn't late. "OK. The first day always starts at 9:00….. It's 8:45 now! I have to get going!" And with that, Naruto bolted out of his door towards the academy.

There wasn't any point in locking it. It wasn't like people cared. If someone wanted to get in, they would just smash the lock or kick the door down. Luckily, Naruto had figured out some nice hiding places for anything actually valuable over the years. Which wasn't actually much, but it mostly consisted of any scrolls he got at the academy or from Hokage-Jiji.

The ones from the academy he didn't really care for, but if he lost them or they got destroyed, he would have to pay for it. And he really didn't have the money for that.

The stuff from Hokage-Jiji though, he couldn't afford to lose at any cost. Those were precious objects from the one person who ever cared for him other than maybe Iruka-Sensei.

He remembered one time when he was 8, his apartment was ransacked while he was out training. And in the process, some scrolls from Hokage-Jiji were destroyed.

When he told him, Naruto could feel the killing intent coming off of him in waves. Little did Naruto know, it wasn't because Naruto lost the scroll. That could easily be replaced. It was simply because those ignorant villagers dared to come anywhere near Naruto. Much less destroy his apartment.

Of course, the villagers never went further than that. For the most part they just ignored Naruto, denied him service, and overcharged him for everything he tried to buy.

In his haste, Naruto did the one thing that he dreaded that day…..

He got lost.

He was an orphan who ran from mobs every other day after he pulled his pranks and knew the village like the back of his hand! He should never have lost his way under any circumstance. Even as big as Konoha was, Naruto could easily just follow his instinct and show up at the academy. But somehow he ended up in one of the more forested areas of Konoha. It just felt...natural. There was some kind of pull that day that caused him to gravitate towards this area.

"Damn. I should have been there with a few minutes to spare by now. What the hell happened?!"

Naruto had never even been in this area before. After all, why would he need to be? He couldn't ever hide in one place after his pranks. Iruka-Sensei would always find him before anyone else ever could. He still didn't know how he did that every time. But anyways, he never needed to venture far into any forested areas if he was just going to keep moving all the time.

"Well. I suppose there's nothing I can really do about that now. Damn. I was really hoping to show up on time this year and impress everyone. I guess if I'm gonna be late anyways, it wouldn't hurt to wander around for a little while. I know what they say every year anyways." Naruto said in a defeated tone. He sulked around the forest for a few minutes when all of a sudden he heard a weird noise.

*Chink* All of a sudden Naruto's right foot sank a little bit as the sound of creaking metal got louder. His leg was in a fucking hole. A dirty, dusty, smelly fucking hole. Or at least that is what Naruto would call it. In reality, it was actually a metal hatch that pushed…..downwards?

'Who the hell makes a trapdoor that's actually a trap? Did you want someone to fall into this?' Naruto thought to himself exasperatedly.

"Oh well. Might as well check out what's inside. It's not like I have anything better to do for a couple of hours."

Naruto pushed the hatch open all the way and climbed right it. There was a ladder descending down about 30 feet into a dark room. He was surprised to find that it actually didn't smell as bad as he would have expected. If anything, it just smelled like old paper and it was stuffy.

The light from outside illuminated the room enough to see a small switch on the wall next to him. When he pressed it, the room seemingly lit up from…..nowhere?

The room just kind of, got brighter all of a sudden. It wasn't the strangest thing Naruto had seen before, he did live in a ninja village after all. But he just couldn't wrap his head around how it worked.

"OK. So that's weird thing number two. I guess it wouldn't hurt to look around and see what this is." And with that, Naruto began to walk through the room looking for something that would indicate what this place was.

Naruto may not have been super book smart like Sakura, but he certainly knew not to go around just touching things in an old random base he found in the forest.

That was when he saw it. On the far back wall, the kanji symbol for "Light" was depicted with six stars around it. One at the bottom, one at the top, and two on either sides.

"Light? Well I guess that sort of explains the room lighting, but I still don't know how it happened. And what are the stars for?" He said in a hushed voice. He then noticed that there were some neatly organized scrolls with gold bindings around them under the symbol.

"Huh. Well I guess no one would mind if I took a look at these. It doesn't look like anyone has been in here in a super long time."

And so he did. He quickly moved over to the desk with the scrolls and immediately threw open the largest one. (1) As soon as he did so, six bright tendrils of light spewed out of the scroll and connected to Naruto's chest. After about ten seconds of a strange probing feeling, the tendrils disconnected from the scroll and were absorbed into Naruto's chest.

To say the least, Naruto was confused. That hadn't hurt, but it didn't change the fact that it was still weird.

"What the hell just happened?" Ten seconds passed in complete silence.

...Penny in the air….penny falling…..and penny hits the ground.

"DID THOSE THINGS JUST GO INTO MY FUCKING CHEST YA KNOW?! Holy shit. What just happened? Am I gonna die? Do I at least get cool powers? What the fuck just happened?!"

But then it happened. All of a sudden words started to appear on the scroll that weren't there before.

And so it read:

 _-Greetings child of light. If you are able to read this text, it is proof enough that you were worthy enough and your soul was pure enough to accept the powers of light. After all, if your soul weren't pure, you wouldn't have even been able to open the main scroll, and even if you had somehow managed to pry it open, the six paths of light would have killed you as soon as they entered your soul.-_

Naruto gulped at that. He could have died if his soul wasn't completely pure?! Why the hell isn't there a warning for that type of shit? And what was a "Child of light"? He continued to read in hopes of finding out.

 _-Moving on, I feel that I should explain to you what just occurred, whoever you are. By opening the main scroll of light, you have proven yourself to be a true child of light, one with a pure soul. This is an extreme rarity at best. There is only one true child of light every few centuries, and the chances of you finding the main chamber at all is clearly a work of god. You are probably wondering who I am._

 _I am Hikari Hogosha. At the time of me writing this letter, I am the only member of the order of the light left, and I am on my deathbed. With the early passing of our child of light, the order was unable to defend ourselves against the savage enemies of Isamu-sama, our last child of light. Fortunately, you have now found the main scroll and can now learn of the light style if you wish. It is also your choice to begin the order anew or if you will use it for other uses, whatever they may be._

 _First off, I need to inform you that what you have received is not the power of light. You have simply attained the right to stand at the starting line if you will. Now that you have absorbed the six paths of light, your soul has been opened so that you can observe the ancient writing of light, which will allow you to learn the techniques listed in the scrolls throughout the main chamber. The light ninjutsu style is now yours to do with it what you wish._

 _Light style ninjutsu is manipulation and creation of light by passing chakra through the soul through the use of a unique chakra purification jutsu. As long as your soul is pure, the chakra purification jutsu should come naturally to you now that your six soul pathways have been loosened. You may be wondering what the six soul pathways are. They are similar in a way to the eight inner gates of the chakra system._

 _Through great practice, you will be able to gradually open the pathways one by one at will. This causes enormous strain to one's chakra system through over-saturation of chakra through the body. As a result, the utilization of these gates may cause serious damage if used in excess. Those are simply the basics of the power you have been given. Any further instruction is depicted in the many scrolls across the main chamber._

 _Lastly, you should know that if you so wish, you may reside within the chamber as a home. There are highly powerful preservation seals placed all throughout the rooms so everything should be exactly as it was left. Safe travels true child of light.-_

Naruto was left absolutely stunned. Not only did his brain hurt a little bit from taking in so much information, complicated information at that. Really, why use big words when you can just be simple and straightforward? Naruto would never get that. But his head was swimming with the possibilities and implications of what was said in the letter. Light ninjutsu style? It sort of sounded cool. Would he be able to shoot lasers out of his hands and stuff?

Not only that, but he just found out that he was something called the "True child of light" and that it was super rare.

"So basically I'm a super awesome guy with lots of chakra and now I can learn light ninjutsu because my soul is pure? Cool. Let's check out those rooms that this Hikari guy was talking about." Naruto said excitedly.

And so he did. He looked through every single inch of the chamber, and found that it was all near spotless. It had everything he would ever need, a kitchen, multiple bathrooms, a recreation area, a dining room, it even had a library.

In fact, they even had a running fountain with a statue of a tall woman wearing a traditional kimono with long flowing hair, a VERY generous chest, and a perfect and beautiful face. There was no other way to describe this woman.

She was beautiful. Way better than Sakura, Ino, or any girl his age. He looked at the plaque below the statue and it said that she was that Isamu lady that Hikari-ojiisan talked about in his letter.

"Wow. The child of light before me sure set standards for me huh? Well I'll live up to that, and be TEN times better than she was!" For once, this declaration of a challenge wasn't said in a spiteful way as it normally was. Naruto's voice was full of determination that would surely help him back up his claim.

Finally, Naruto claimed the biggest room in the chamber as the one he was going to put all his stuff in when he got back.

….

When he got back…..from…."THE ACADEMY YA KNOW!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs. He was glad he was thirty feet underground encased in stone or half of Konoha would have heard that shriek.

Instantly he dropped all of the scrolls he had grabbed and any books on his new bed and once again bolted out of his door…err…..hatch. He closed the hatch and made sure he knew he could find it again if he needed to. Immediately he took off into the trees, not looking back at all. Bolting towards the academy once again at top speed.

* * *

 **In front of Iruka's door, The academy, Konohagakure no Sato**

He was three hours late. Three. Hours. Late. This was going to suck.

Naruto slowly slid open the door and looked at the crowd around him. Iruka-Sensei was standing at the front of the class with the standard final year academy pamphlet in his hands, and every student except Naruto was seated in a seat of their choice. Iruka turned to Naruto with an absolute look of disbelief.

"Naruto. Why in the world are you three hours late on the first day? Give me one good reason I shouldn't make you stand outside right now until the next activity starts." Iruka said with a certain authority and subtle fear inducing rage that only a teacher could show.

Naruto immediately paled as white as a sheet of paper. He couldn't just tell them what really happened. People would call him a liar and he would still get kicked out. Then people might even go check out the chambers. He had to make something up quick.

"Uhh…I got lost…..on the road of life?" Naruto half-asked with a slight grin.

Iruka just deadpanned. 'Kakashi what have you done to my student? We will have a serious conversation later.'

He couldn't take this today. The first day was stressful enough. He didn't need to deal with the up and coming Kakashi right now. "Naruto, just sit down next to Kiba. We have only gone over the basics for this year. You've already heard them before so you're fine." He said pointing to the empty seat next to Kiba.

Naruto couldn't believe that actually worked. Maybe he should use that more often.

* * *

 **Training Ground 9, Konohagakure no Sato**

While in the midst of a spar with his new team, Might Guy was all of a sudden overcome with a sense of dread and unyouthfulness. "DAMN YOU KAKASHI! YOU HAVE TAINTED THE YOUTH OF A YOUNG NINJA ONCE AGAIN! CURSE YOU KAKASHI!"

Team 9 could only wonder as to what was going on in this man's head. All except for one spandex wearing youth of course.

* * *

 **Academy Training Grounds, The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato**

Once all of the formalities were out of the way and the students knew what was expected of them, the class headed outside to the academy training grounds to test the individual skills of each of the new students to see who would be a good match against who in terms of taijutsu.

Of course, having taught all of them in years past, Iruka knew the capabilities of the students, but it was completely possible that one or two of them had trained hard over the summer and so it was important to get a proper skills profile on each of his students.

The matches would be held in a tournament style with two separate tournaments, the boy's tournament and the girl's tournament. Until later on, it simply wouldn't be fair to put the girls against the boys due to the boys having naturally superior physical strength.

Luckily for Iruka, Naruto showed up so now they had an even 12 girls and 12 boys. He was afraid he was going to have to make one of the boys fight another match and have to deal with their endless complaining.

First up was the girl's tournament. Honestly, it wasn't much at all. Hinata was the only outstanding Fighter in the group, and even then she needed to work on her confidence even in battle. Sakura and Ino definitely had the basic stances and forms down, but as soon as their opponent pulled something new, they didn't know how to adapt. The rest of the girls were pretty decent, only a few that actually did terribly.

Sakura and Ino may have had good stances, but their physical strength was so bad due to their excessive dieting that they couldn't hold their own for more than a minute. That combined with the fact that past the basic stances and styles, their fighting was too rigid, too textbook.

Iruka sighed heavily. 'I guess we're really going to have to work hard this year on getting the girls up to speed physically, and we're going to have to figure out how to stop that dieting fad going around.'

"Alright everyone. Hinata is the winner of the girl's bracket. Next up is the boy's bracket.

The first match was between two civilian kids who weren't really much at all in terms of fighting, Hideki and Kouda. In the end, Hideki won by tripping Kouda and ending the fight.

The second match was between Sasuke and a civilian named Hori. Somehow, this fight was even more boring than the first. As soon as the signal to start was given, Sasuke closed the gap between the two and punched Hori once which caused him to fall out of the ring. Sasuke walked off, muttering something about no one being good enough to face an Uchiha elite like him.

The third match was a little more interesting than the first two. Granted, it was another two civilian kids named Takeshi and Akira, but they were evenly matched enough that the fight lasted for a few minutes of them just beating the snot out of each other. It eventually ended up as a pure stamina match to see who could take the most damage. Eventually Akira gave out and lost.

The fourth fight was between Naruto and a bigger kid named Toshihiro. Now that one was interesting.

Naruto and Toshihiro both came to the middle of the field and made the sign to signal that they were both ready. Toshihiro had always been an arrogant little snot, but especially when he was facing people that were so much smaller than him. It was like he felt the need to prove that he was superior in some way. He even started taunting Naruto before the fight.

"There's no way that a dobe like you can beat someone as strong as me you little runt. You should just give up now so you can save the little dignity you have left. You're just a worthless orphan who failed the exam twice now. You don't even deserve to be a ninja." Toshihiro sneered at Naruto.

But unknown to Toshihiro, Naruto had endured much worse from the mobs of villagers than what this kid could dish out. He wasn't even phased. "Can we get this started already Iruka-Sensei?"

Iruka just smiled. Typical Naruto. "Hajime!"

Iruka jumped back and the fight ensued. Naruto was certainly faster than Toshihiro, but he didn't have enough strength behind his punches to actually mean much to a bigger kid like him. Even when Naruto did manage to land a hit on him, Toshihiro always managed to shrug it off and go in for the grab as soon as Naruto was close enough to him. This went on for a few minutes, neither one willing to give up. Under normal circumstances, Toshihiro would have been at least a little out of breath and wearing down while Naruto would be fine, but because he was for the most part just waiting for Naruto to come to him, they were at a standstill. That is, until Naruto literally pulled Toshihiro's shirt over his head and made him an easy target. Naruto just pushed him out of the ring.

Of course, no one in the crowd really cared whether or not Toshihiro was ok, he was a jerk to everyone anyway. No. Many girls in the crowd except for a handful who for the most part, were indifferent. Some were even cheering him on for winning. The rest were all yelling at Naruto for "cheating". Sakura was by far the loudest.

"Iruka-sensei! Naruto cheated! You should disqualify him! Surely there are rules against that type of thing!" Sakura yelled loudly.

Of course, Kiba was the first to speak against this, he wasn't necessarily good friends with Naruto, but he certainly didn't think calling him a cheater was fair. "God. Can you get any louder? And besides, we're training to be ninja. Deception is a part of our job. As a member of a ninja clan, I think Naruto did really good. He used what he had on hand." Kiba reasoned.

That wasn't even the most surprising part. What happened next was. Sasuke actually spoke up.

"Hn. It hurts, but I agree with dog-breath, he actually didn't do half bad. I could have done better of course, but he did what he needed to do to win. I can respect that."

At least Sakura had the decency to look ashamed.

…

Naruto was the first to speak up. "Uhh, what? Is Sasuke actually saying I did something well? Kiba, quick, pinch me."

Sasuke just responded with his regular "Hn." And stalked off.

"Damn you with your hip and cool attitude Sasuke." Naruto muttered as he watched Sasuke's retreating form.

The fifth match was between Shino and Chouji. Shino held up pretty well but in the end, he was forced to forfeit because he was running out of stamina.

The sixth match didn't even happen. Shikamaru just forfeited before the match even started. He fell asleep muttering something about facing one of the strongest taijutsu users in the Academy in a normal match being troublesome. Naruto just didn't understand that one.

The seventh match was a fight between Hideki and Sasuke. Once again, Sasuke won with one punch knocking Hideki down. Man, could anyone last more than five seconds against this guy?

The eighth fight between Takeshi and Naruto was once again pretty slow. It was obvious that Naruto's taijutsu was extremely sloppy, but in the end, Naruto's monstrous stamina won him the match.

The ninth fight between Chouji and Kiba was certainly a heated one. Without being able to have Akamaru with him in battle, Kiba was more or less on an even playing field with the big boned boy. It was a good fight, but in the end, due to Kiba having not even fought yet while Chouji was a little bit tired out, Kiba was able to scrape a win out and come out as the victor.

The final three were now chosen. Sasuke, Naruto, and Kiba were going to have a three way battle to determine the victor.

Of course, Sasuke being Sasuke, just brooded. Not even slightly worried about the match.

Kiba took the time in-between the matches to take a breather and talk with Akamaru.

Naruto just sat there in silence. It was clear that the boy wasn't even winded after his last two fights. The strange thing was that he wasn't saying anything. He was just looking at his feet waiting for the fight to start. It was clear that he was deep in thought.

'Dammit. I barely won my matches again through stamina. Haven't I changed at all since last year?'

 **10 Minutes Later**

The three boys were faced off in a triangle formation before the match started. They all performed their signs and got into their ready stances.

"Hajime!"

With that, the three boys were off. Naturally, Sasuke headed for the "stronger" of the two and dashed straight toward Kiba while Naruto and Kiba both charged Sasuke head on. Naruto and Kiba both got to their target at the same time. Kiba went for a right hook into Sasuke's face while Naruto aimed a sweep at his legs. It was a sort of non-verbal agreement between Kiba and Naruto that they should focus on Sasuke first then fight each other later.

Having been raised in a ninja clan, Kiba knew when he was outmatched, and if there was one thing valued in the Inuzuka clan, it was that you always stayed with your pack, and sometimes you need your pack to defeat a stronger enemy.

Naruto on the other hand was simply still suffering from his earlier realization about his skills and thought that maybe with this whole Child of light thing, he should try a new approach.

Sasuke decided to get out through the weaker link and pushed back against Naruto's leg to get out of the two man pincer attack. Naruto, having only been on one sturdy leg at the time, lost his balance and tumbled backwards.

"Damn. Sorry Kiba. I thought we had him." Naruto said, expecting Kiba to ridicule him.

But then Kiba shocked him. "It's cool man. Just get your head in the game. We're gonna need both of us to take this bastard out."

And with that, a new kinship was born. Bonds made in battle were often some of the strongest after all. Even if it was just an academy spar.

Kiba's idea certainly made sense. Kiba himself without Akamaru could come close to matching Sasuke in taijutsu, and even though Naruto wasn't the best at taijutsu, he could still perform as a distraction and helper in duo strategies.

"Naruto, I need you to distract his front enough so that he takes his focus off of me. Can you do that?"

Naruto hesitated. He was about to say that he wasn't sure, or that he would try, but that wouldn't do. This was serious. This wasn't just about him now. He had a partner. "Hell yeah. Let's kick his ass."

That was what Kiba wanted to hear. He sprinted forward in Sasuke's direction and at the last second before impact, he swerved to the right. Appearing right where Kiba was previously, Naruto got right up into Sasuke's face. Sasuke couldn't look away to search for Kiba. Regardless of how he felt about Naruto's fighting skills, even a small hit could set Sasuke off balance and give an opening for more attacks from either one of them.

So Sasuke did the only thing he was left with. He jabbed straight at Naruto, hoping to get him out at least temporarily until he could deal with Kiba. Damn why did they have to be such pests and team up?

Sasuke's fist hit dead on with Naruto's face. 'Heh. Well that takes care of that.' What he didn't expect was for Naruto to have braced himself on the ground, expecting the hit, and not budging an inch.

Naruto quickly found the new opening in Sasuke's stance and took advantage of it. He put all of his strength into one punch to Sasuke's stomach. That alone nearly made Sasuke keel over and admit defeat hunched over.

However, it didn't help when Kiba decided at that moment to join in and flex Sasuke's spine the opposite way as he sent a strong **Tsuuga** (Passing fang) straight to Sasuke's back with a ferocious yell. He still hadn't perfected the move yet, and it sure took a lot out of him, but it was enough to send Sasuke careening across the ring out of the other side and knocked unconscious.

Only one thing went through everyone's mind.

'They did it.'

A couple of the boys were even cheering for them, while the most of the girl's side, aside from a few girls who really didn't care, was filled with screams for their "Sasuke-kun" and of course for Naruto and Kiba's blood. Figuratively of course...mostly.

Iruka took this opportunity to step in. "Sasuke is out by ring out and unconsciousness!"

Now it was just Naruto and Kiba. Kiba was slightly worse for wear due to using the Tsuuga, but Naruto was more or less the same due to taking both of Sasuke's hits. One of which was a very sharp jab to the face. In other words, painful.

Naruto jumped to the other side of the ring, not wanting to be caught in a close up brawl with Kiba right now. So now the question was, what would win, immense stamina and tricks, or skilled taijutsu?

Kiba spoke up first. "Nice job Naruto. I respect that kinda grit and determination to win you know? Now you have to get through me." He said with a wide grin, clearly showing that he was enjoying this battle.

"Same to you Kiba. Nice technique there. You've gotta show me again some time. Bring it on. I aim to win ya know." Naruto responded with a grin just as wide as his opponent.

At this point the two fighters on the field had greatly impressed everyone in the crowd with their fight so far. Even the fangirls to an extent. A very small one of course. Not that they would ever admit to that.

Almost as if it were planned, the two ran at each other to engage in what would end up as the final battle.

Naruto tried the trick Kiba used earlier and swerved to the left at the last second and aimed a left kick at Kiba's torso. Kiba of course already having used this trick, knew what to expect and countered with his own right kick which met with Naruto's thigh.

Naruto, having placed his leg on top, used Kiba as leverage to boost himself up into the air and take a kick with his right leg at Kiba's head. Kiba barely had time to recover from his shock to cross his arms in front of his face to block the second kick. This caused Kiba to slide a little bit, nearing closer and closer to the edge.

"Damn Naruto. That sure was crafty. But you won't catch me off guard like that again!" Kiba exclaimed proudly.

"We'll see about that when you're on the ground Kiba ya know!"

Iruka considered stopping this fight just in case it got too messy, but he knew that would destroy the pride both boys had and possibly even this new kinship that had formed.

Once again, the two boys advanced towards each other with renewed vigor. This time, Kiba had the upper hand, he dodged Naruto's fast right hook, feinted with his left side, and struck Naruto in the abdomen with his right.

The two were fighting each other to a standstill. Kiba, clearly the more tired of the two, took this chance. "How about we end this here and now Naruto. A final stand."

Naruto just grinned. "Sounds good to me."

 **"TSUUGA!"** (Passing Fang)

"TAKE THIS KIBA!" Naruto then ducked around the lightning quick move. Not enough to completely dodge it, but enough to minimize the damage. Naruto then did the unthinkable.

Naruto grabbed Kiba with both of his arms. He wrapped his arms around the spinning torpedo that was Kiba and stopped him in his tracks. Of course, he didn't get out of this unharmed at all, His arms were positively shredded, any bare skin having been ripped off in the process. The pain caused Naruto to black out almost immediately.

Meanwhile, Kiba had also passed out due to the strain of using Tsuuga twice in a short period of time in a spar and trying to keep it prolonged as long as possible the second time to make Naruto let go.

Suffice to say, both boys were out cold. Somehow a three-way battle between the Top fighter in the class overall, the best in taijutsu in the class, and the class dobe, ended up with all three passed out with severe injuries and strain.

Iruka was speechless. Everything was quiet in the field for a few seconds while people processed what just happened. It had certainly been an intense fight.

"B-both fighters are unable to continue! Naruto and Kiba tie for first place!" Iruka said with a dumbfounded voice.

"Chouji! Shikamaru! Shino! Grab these three and get them to the infirmary!"

Shino picked up Naruto, Shikamaru picked up Sasuke, and Chouji picked up Kiba. All three boys turned to go back into the building when they saw it.

Tons of students were looking out the windows at the field. Apparently the school day had already ended and some spectators decided to join.

And it wasn't just the students either, even some of the teachers were watching the fight intensely as well. Tons of people had just seen that entire battle! Hell, that tournament had taken the rest of the day, some of the parents were even watching! Shikamaru, Chouji, and Ino's dads were all there! Kiba's mom was there! EVEN SHINO'S DAD CAME?!

In the words of Shikamaru, this would only turn out to be… troublesome.

As the three boys carried the unconscious fighters to the infirmary, they got cheers, and awed looks.

"Yep. Definitely troublesome." Shikamaru muttered under his breath.

When they finally delivered the three to the infirmary, they were surprised to say the least at the fact that Naruto's wounds had already started to visibly heal. His arms and torso would still take a whole day to heal fully at this rate, but it was astounding.

Sasuke would be allowed to leave as soon as he woke up seeing as his injuries weren't as severe. For the most part, Kiba was just suffering from physical exhaustion. So as soon as he woke up and had a full checkup done, he could leave.

It was at that moment that the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and Tsume Inuzuka all barged into the infirmary to either speak to their sons, visit their unconscious son, or just be there with their friends in Inoichi's case.

Yep. It was going to be a long week.

 **Author's Note: Hello! I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of "The True Child of Light". I stayed up all night to write this so I hope you do anyways. If anyone has any questions please ask in the form of a review and I will either answer you then or I will answer you at the beginning of the second chapter. Any criticism is welcome. This is my first story so I need all the help I can get.**

 **1:** The scroll is about the size of the summoning scrolls.

 **I should note now that I will be using the Japanese forms of most Jutsu along with the English versions. In addition, I will be using words such as sensei and such. It just wouldn't feel like Naruto without it. However, I will most likely always use English for any cursing or pretty much anything else you can think of. There will be a few exceptions to this rule however. For example, Naruto may say "Sasuke-Teme" in one instance, but he may say "Bastard" in another. Any common words such as "Baka" or Sakura's famous "Shannaro" will be preserved of course. I'm not sure how I feel about Naruto's saying yet however. He may grow out of that sooner than he did in canon.**


	2. Chapter 2: Like a Family

**Author's Note:** Welcome back everyone! I present to you, the second chapter of The True Child of Light. Thank you to all of you who have reviewed, followed, and favorited this story. The feedback is absolutely astounding. Hell, I even already got my own essay review which greatly aided me in editing my first chapter.

That is another thing. If you read my first chapter the day it was released, the next day, or the day after that, go ahead and read it again. That being said, I put a date and timestamp on there to show what time I edited it. BTW I am in central time. You can use that as a reference.

Anyways, onto the main part, I would like to give some short shout outs.

 **First off** , I would simply like to thank every person who has taken the time out of their day to read my boring story.

 **Second** , I would like to thank "slashrunner" for leaving a huge essay sized review as I stated above. Thank you so much.

Another announcement, there is going to be a question at the end of this chapter relating to Naruto's future abilities. Please read and give input.

Anyways, let's actually get into things.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto if I did, Hinata probably would have come out of her shell a lot sooner and actually become a viable candidate for a potential love interest for Naruto. Actually, DID she ever come out of her shell? She just took that verbal abuse from Boruto. Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the official release.

"Shut it teme." – Regular speech

 _'Baka!'_ – Internal thoughts

 _:Shannaro!:_ – Inner Sakura

 _-Random book mumbo jumbo stuff-_ –Books ( I have decided to also center book text in the page)

 **"I swear I'm going to eat you brat."** – Bijuu talking

 ** _'Hmm. The kid isn't half bad.'_** – Bijuu thinking

 **"Katon: Goukakakyuu no Jutsu!"** (Fire release: Great Fireball Technique) – Jutsu

 **Chapter 2: Like a Family**

 **Konoha Hospital, Konohagakure no Sato, day 2 of the academy**

The day after the now famous academy tournament, Sasuke and Kiba had both woken up from their slumbers. Sasuke was allowed to leave immediately and after a few hours of checkups, Kiba was let go as well. However, Kiba didn't leave the hospital. In fact, he stayed in the same hospital room that he was admitted to originally. The reason? Naruto of course.

Through the battle against Sasuke and each other, Naruto and Kiba had formed an unusually strong bond. They understood each other almost like they had been good friends for years prior. As a result, Kiba felt that it was important for him to stay behind until Naruto woke up so that they could have a nice long talk.

At about 1:40 in the afternoon, Kiba's wish was granted. Naruto began to stir from his sleep and wake up, and what was the first thing that he saw? Kiba of course. Kiba was sitting sprawled out in the visitor's chair with a bored look all over his face. That is, until Akamaru barked in Naruto's direction, which caused Kiba to look over to his new friend.

"Hey man! You're awake! Damn, you were out cold for almost an entire day you know. We've got tons of things to talk about." Kiba spewed out statement after statement.

Naruto just looked confused. "Kiba, not that I'm not glad you're here and all, but what would we have to talk about?"

An audible sigh was heard from Kiba. Naruto may have done well in the fight, but he was still that same idiot as always. "What do you think man? That fight was badass. I mean really, even after being worn down, you caught my Tsuuga like a damn ball without even hesitating. That's what we have to talk about."

This only served to confuse Naruto even more. "I mean, thanks Kiba but I still don't get it." Naruto stated with an innocent face.

Kiba couldn't believe this guy. "Naruto, everyone in the academy was watching that fight. Even my mom. In fact, speaking of my mom, I hope you don't mind, but I asked her for a favor after I woke up."

This still confused Naruto more. "Why would I mind that you asked your mom for a favor?"

"Naruto, I asked my mom if you could train with us over at the Inuzuka clan compound."

If Naruto's jaw could unhinge itself and fall further, it would have. "Wait. You mean I could train with your family?! With you?"

Finally, he was catching on. Kiba just grinned wildly. "Hell yeah man. And of course she said yes right away. Naruto… did you notice in our fight? How well we worked together?"

It had taken Naruto a second, but he finally registered what was happening. He just broke out into a wide grin as well. "Oh yeah! We kicked Sasuke's ass! That was so awesome ya know!"

"Hell yeah it was! We worked together great man! The Inuzuka style is all about working with your pack in battle. If you, Akamaru and I all worked together, we could be unstoppable!"

This was completely new to Naruto. Not only was someone finally acknowledging him, but they were asking him to train with them! He couldn't turn that down. "Well hell yeah I'll do it! As soon as I'm out of this damn hospital, I have a couple of things to do, then I could go anytime."

Needless to say, Kiba was overjoyed with this. Working in a fight with Naruto just felt…..right. Like when he and Akamaru fought together. "Well alright man. I'll tell my mom. Get better quick Naruto." And with that, Kiba and Akamaru left out the door and closed it shut.

Well, as long as he was going to be in there, Naruto would work out potential skills and strategies he could use against Sasuke. However, these thoughts were also cut short as Hokage-jiji and Iruka-Sensei came walking in the door. The Hokage was the first to speak.

"Hello Naruto. How are you feeling?" The Hokage said with a somewhat concerned tone. Even if he knew Naruto would be fine, he couldn't help but worry. Naruto was like a grandson to him after all.

"I'm fine old man. I'll be up again today ya know!" Naruto said matter-of-factly. "Oh hey Iruka-sensei."

Iruka just sweatdropped at Naruto's words. Oh well. Naruto would be Naruto after all.

"Hey Naruto. Great fight out there in the tournament. You really showed everyone what you can do."

Sarutobi took that opportunity to step in. "Indeed Naruto. I was watching the fight as well, and I must say, you truly did fantastic. Although I would suggest you stay away from such self-sacrificing methods in the future. I wouldn't want you to end up hurt on a real mission."

"Hehe. Sorry Jiji. I couldn't think of anything else to win. I don't really have any cool techniques like Kiba or Sasuke." Naruto said semi-apologetically.

The Hokage couldn't help smiling at Naruto's words. "Of course Naruto. I understand. I have to say, your on the spot teamwork with young Kiba was truly outstanding. I am glad to see that even academy students are upholding the virtues of Konoha."

Naruto didn't completely understand what that meant, but clearly it was good. "Sure thing Jiji! Oh! Jiji! Jiji! I need to tell you something! Kiba's family is gonna let me train with them! I've never trained with anyone other than people in the academy! Isn't that cool?"

"Haha. Indeed Naruto. Kiba's mother told me about the request soon after her son spoke to her. It is a great honor and opportunity to train with one of Konoha's main clans. I am positive that it will result in only good things. But enough about battles and training. How are you fairing?"

Naruto still didn't get what was so important about big clans in the village. All he really knew is that most of them were really strong. "Hehe. No problem Jiji. Like I said, I'll be up and running before you know it…..see?"

And so he was.

Naruto was quite literally up and running around the hospital room before anyone even processed what was happening.

 _'Well at least he isn't short on energy.'_

"Hokage-sama, should I have the doctors come in to do some checks to see if Naruto can leave?" Iruka jumped in.

"Hmm. Yes Iruka. Very well. Naruto, until the doctors say that you are clear, try to stay in your bed. We wouldn't want any permanent and lasting effects on your body now would we?" Of course, the Hokage knew that it would never actually happen. The Kyuubi would simply heal any large injuries before they could escalate into anything serious. But Naruto didn't know that.

Immediately Naruto stopped in his tracks and walked back to his bed. With that, Iruka left the room with a chuckle.

For a few minutes, Naruto and the Hokage sat around just talking. Catching up on the recent events. When he asked why Naruto was so late that day though, Naruto just told him he slept in. Technically it wasn't a lie. Just stretched a bit.

However, after a couple of minutes, a trio of people came in. Two of them were somewhat expected. The third however, not so much.

It was none other than the children of the famous Ino-Shika-Cho team. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji.

Choji was the first to speak. "Hey Naruto. How ya doing? That was a *munch* pretty nice fight you had. Risky move at the end though." The large boy stated while wolfing down a bag of chips.

Next was Shikamaru. "Same. Man Naruto, you sure know how to stir things up around here. Troublesome blond."

Last was Ino. "Yeah yeah. You did pretty well. Even I have to admit that. Even if you did need Kiba's help to defeat Sasuke-Kun."

Naruto sweatdropped at that. Even when complimenting him, Ino still found a way to make it sound somewhat insulting. "Uhh. Thanks guys. I don't really know what to say."

"Then don't say anything. Just take the compliment. Even when you don't do anything, you're still troublesome." Shikamaru stated.

"Oh. Uhh alright then. Well thanks anyways. And yeah, I was pretty awesome."

Audible sighs were heard all around. _'Of course that's the only thing he would get out of that.'_

"Yeah yeah Naruto. You did great. Get better soon and all that you troublesome blond." Shikamaru said with a strangely amused tone.

And with that, the trio left the room. Fine timing too, because at that moment, Iruka, the doctor, and a nurse all walked in.

"All right Uzumaki-san, we're just going to do some checkups and physical tests to check if you are fit to leave the hospital and go on your way.

For the next hour, Naruto went through various tests, had multiple diagnostic jutsu run on him, and some weird medical talk that Naruto didn't really understand. But in the end, they cleared him to leave.

"Well Mr. Uzumaki, I'm happy to say that you're clear to go. It's amazing really. With your injuries, you should have been stuck in that room for at least a few days, but instead you were barely there for a day. However, that isn't to say that you are entirely in the clear. However, please take it easy at least for today. That means no fighting or training. Certainly nothing like yesterday."

And so Naruto left. He said his goodbyes to Iruka and the Hokage, and he started heading to his apartment.

* * *

 **About 20 minutes later, Naruto's apartment, Konohagakure no Sato**

Naruto looked around his apartment. In all honestly, it was pretty dirty. What was he supposed to say? He was an eleven year old boy living alone. Sure, he knew how to clean it up properly, but why bother? It wasn't like anyone ever saw his apartment.

Naruto didn't have much in the way of personal belongings. Of course, he had the essentials, clothes, food, some furniture, but he didn't really own anything nice. For the most part, his apartment had some ramen cups strewn around on the floor, some dirty dishes in the sink, and a few shirts thrown on the floor.

Sure, he was glad he would be moving into a bigger and better space, but the apartment also had a certain sentimental value to him. He had been living in it alone since the Hokage took him out of the orphanage and gave him his own place.

Naruto started by picking up the clothes on the ground and packing them in the box with the rest of his clothes he was bringing. That was what caused the sudden realization.

He would have to wash his clothes here. Even as faulty as it was, Naruto's only washing machine was in his apartment. There wasn't one over at the chambers because they had been built a super long time ago before things like electricity even existed.

Not only that, but washing machines were a fairly new invention. Expensive too. The only reason that Naruto even had one was because it was a gift from the Hokage for his 10th birthday. With him being in the academy, he really didn't have time to manually wash his clothes like he used to.

Naruto couldn't just transport his washer to the base either. Not only was it huge and needed electricity to run, something that the chambers definitely didn't have, but he would also need to know how to install one into a new area. Something which he lacked.

He supposed he would just have to bring his clothes back to his apartment to wash every once and awhile. That was fine though. He needed to make sure that it seemed like he was still living there anyways. Hanging his clothes out to dry would help with that.

After dealing with his clothes, Naruto threw away the old ramen cups on the floor and packed up any good food he had left to take to the chambers until he could set up a good system.

Last were the dirty dishes. He quickly hand washed each of them and packed them up as well. He also unplugged any electrical appliances that he didn't need on, things like his refrigerator for example. If he wasn't going to be living there, he might as well not waste power. That would just cost more money. Speaking of which, he would still have to remember to come by the landlord and pay rent every month until he could come up with a suitable excuse for not living there anymore.

Once he had packed everything into one sectioned off box, he turned off the lights of his apartment and walked out of his house. He couldn't really run very well with such a large box, so he was forced to walk all the way to the base. It took a whole hour on foot at a civilian pace. It was dark as well. The pack up and cleaning itself took a couple of hours.

Once he got there, he struggled to climb down the ladder with the large box, but once he did, he once again found the room he had chosen the day before, unpacked his things, and plopped down on his bed. He may have been asleep for most of the day, but it was still tiring talking to all of those people and transporting his things to the base.

Not enough to completely tire Naruto out of course. There were few things that could accomplish that task. Just enough to cause him to want to go to sleep and forget the troubles of the day. And so he did just that. He fell asleep at around 8:00 PM that night.

* * *

 **The next day, The Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, day 3 of the academy**

Naruto awoke that day somewhat more groggy than usual. He realized that now that he wasn't in his apartment, he didn't have his alarm clock anymore. Quickly, he ran to the main chamber and opened up the hatch. Luckily for him, it was still somewhat dark outside. It was probably somewhere around 6:00 in the morning.

With a sigh of relief, he climbed back down the ladder, and started getting ready for the day. He needed to be ready soon so that he would have time to check through some of the scrolls to learn a little more about light ninjutsu. Hikari-ojiisan said that there would be some techniques that he could learn now. He wanted to get started as soon as he could.

He opened up one of the six small scrolls around the main scroll and read it. Unfortunately what it contained some technical stuff about the first of the six pathways of the soul and an explanation of how it worked. It was all too complicated for Naruto so he moved on. The rest was just a list of techniques to attempt when in the first gate state. Nothing that he could try now.

Just in case, he checked the other five scrolls, but they were all more of the same. The first one however, mentioned something under the requirements for opening the first gate about mastering certain techniques before he was deemed ready. It said that they could probably be found in the library of the chambers. With that, Naruto was off. He had taken a quick tour around the chambers the night before.

For the most part, it was all pretty standard. Multiple bathrooms, countless bedrooms of varying sizes and colors, the kitchens, a dining room, a recreation room with some nice puffy furniture, and the library. He hadn't actually examined the library at all the night before. It was simply too large to see all at once.

It contained what looked to Naruto like endless books and spiraling staircases leading into other rooms and areas with what he presumed to be more books. There was even a pillar sprouting downwards from the ceiling that was covered in books, with staircases from other rooms stretching out to it. The entire place was like a maze of books and scrolls. He doubted that anyone could ever read all of them in one lifetime.

There was a plaque in the middle of the main room.

-The sacred library of light-

-Please respect the books in this facility and please return any books that you take with you.-

-If you require assistance, please contact the main librarian for any literature needs-

Naruto figured that the last one wasn't really in effect anymore. However, he would make sure that he took good care of any books he took out. He had never owned so many things before. Much less such a large number books and scrolls.

He started by walking over to the section labeled "Basics". Well, at least one person in the order had an appreciation for simplicity. What was the use of making things complicated when they could easily be simple? It just didn't make much sense.

Anyways, Naruto ventured over to the basics section, slid the glass cover of the section to the side, and pulled out a scroll labeled "Taking your first steps in the Light style Ninjutsu" Next to it, there was a scroll labeled "Taking your first steps in the Light style Taijutsu". That was cool. Hikari-Ojiisan never explained anything past the extremely basic points of light ninjutsu in the main scroll. He went ahead and took that one too.

Naruto sat down at one of the many tables stationed around the main floor and opened up the ninjutsu scroll. In it, it detailed the basics of light ninjutsu which Hikari-ojiisan had already explained so far.

In addition, it detailed that the soul itself was a reflection of a person's inner thoughts. The soul held the base intentions and personality of a person. In other words, the soul never lied. Even if a person said one thing, if they didn't truly believe it deep down, their soul would say otherwise. Essentially, being a holder of energy and information already, the soul could be used as a conduit or catalyst for chakra.

By streaming a person's chakra through their soul with the Chakra Purification jutsu, it purifies their chakra and creates light chakra. Naturally, the more pure a person's soul is, the easier the process will be and the more pure the light chakra will be. Someone with an evil and diluted soul could never hope to even succeed at the purification process without outside help from a master of the style constantly regulating their chakra flow for them.

The scroll said that the first step to light ninjutsu after learning the basics of what the soul was and how it works, was to begin learning the Chakra Purification Jutsu which apparently, despite being such a seemingly simple technique, was the base for all light style ninjutsu.

Much like using hand seals to form and mold chakra in the chakra system, the Chakra Purification Jutsu allowed a person to focus on the soul and free form the chakra through it, and back into the chakra system.

Honestly, the Purification Jutsu was more like a Chakra Purification Technique than a jutsu. It was just the molding of chakra in a specific way that allowed a person to set up and prepare their chakra to use actual light ninjutsu.

The scroll stated that the first step to learning the Purification Technique was to be able to home in on the soul and locate the exact pathways to flow the chakra through. The scroll simply said that through focused meditation and clearing your mind of other thoughts, a person should be able to feel a unique sensation in their chest as they can feel their soul flowing freely through the gates. Through consistent practice, a practitioner of the Light Style would be able to easily call on light chakra as second nature without even thinking.

Of course, this was only possible to people who had their soul pathways loosened and thus allowed the soul to run free as opposed to simply sitting in one place at all times and circling in its own spot.

Naruto decided to roll up the scroll and take both of them to his room to ease into a more comfortable spot. The only problem was, Naruto had never meditated. He just wasn't one for sitting still for long periods of time.

It wasn't like he didn't know how. The concept was pretty simple. It was even explained in the scroll. However, no matter how difficult it was for Naruto, he swore to be able to at least sense his soul by the end of the hour when he had to head towards the academy.

 **1 hour later**

After Naruto's hour was up, he had managed to make a lot more progress than he had expected. Within about 25 minutes, Naruto had managed to sense his soul in his chest. At first, he had just written it off as a warm fuzzy feeling in his chest, but after a few minutes of it not going away, Naruto realized that it was probably the feeling of the soul that had been described in the scroll.

After 35 minutes, he was able to feel somewhat more subtle movements of his soul. He could feel it twisting and churning around and flowing through his newly loosened chakra pathways.

Once the hour was up, Naruto was able to sort of begin to flow his chakra through his soul, but it just ended up mixing with his soul and dissipated. At least he had made progress though. Maybe he could experiment with it during one of Iruka's lectures. It wasn't like he paid attention to them anyways.

Hell, sometimes he, Shikamaru, Choji and occasionally Kiba just skipped the whole lecture until a more hands on approach was introduced that day. Not that Shikamaru really cared, but he might as well go with his friends.

After the first day of the academy, classes started at 8:00 AM every day. It was 7:30 AM at the time. Naruto's base was actually much closer to the Academy than his old house had been, so it only took about five minutes for him to get there if he ran.

And so he did. Naruto decided to get to the Academy early on to try to make up for the first day. Fortunately, everything went well. Naruto just put the two scrolls into a glass cabinet with a key on top in his room. He put the key on a small length of twine and tied the two ends together to make a necklace. He put the key around his neck and headed out of the chambers.

And with that, he took off towards the Academy.

* * *

 **The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato, 7:35 AM**

When Naruto arrived in the classroom, only a few people were actually there. A couple of still eager civilian kids and Shino, he had never really talked to Shino much, even when he would interact with the class of his age group.

 _'Huh. I guess I'll make a mental note to talk to that Shino guy at some point, see how he acts.'_ Naruto thought.

Naruto just decided to sit down for today in the spot where he had been seated on the first day and practice sensing his soul and passing chakra through it. The scroll said that unless he could feel his soul at all times and could pass chakra through it moderately well, he wasn't allowed to move on to any actual jutsu. Which, to say the least, deflated his ego about the whole thing of "Being the only living person knowledgeable of light ninjutsu."

He was certainly getting better, but even with the aid of having a pure soul and therefore it being much easier to sense it, meditating still wasn't Naruto's strong point, and could definitely afford to be worked on.

For the next twenty minutes, he sat still with his eyes closed, attempting to ease his mind of thought and tried to hone in on the presence of his soul. The result more or less was more of the same. He could locate his soul, and begin to push the chakra through, but the biggest problem was flowing the chakra back out of the soul, and back into the chakra pathways.

Unfortunately, he was broken from his meditation when Sakura and Ino came bursting through the door, apparently trying to race each other to the room. They argued for a minute about who was first.

While they did so, Naruto took note of the people now in the room. Everyone except for a couple of civilian students were there. When he turned to his right, Kiba was sitting in his usual spot next to him, just looking at Naruto wondering what he was doing. It didn't even occur to Naruto that people might be confused as to what he was doing.

Then he looked to his left, and he saw something….interesting.

It was Sasuke. Sasuke was seated right next to Naruto. Huh. Whatever.

Kiba was the first to speak. "Hey Naruto what are you doing. You've just been sitting there with your eyes closed ever since I got here."

It was at that moment that Naruto realized that he hadn't even bothered coming up with much of an excuse for that. Whatever. It wouldn't be too hard. "Oh, I was just a bit tired still from everything that's been going on, that's all." Naruto said quickly

Luckily, Kiba seemed to buy it. "Oh alright. Hey, are you going to head over to my place today for training?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. I should be free today so I could go right after we get out."

With that, Kiba just smiled and nodded, then went back to talking with Akamaru.

Naruto then turned to Sasuke. "Hey Sasuke, why did you sit next to me anyway?" He tried to word it in a way that wouldn't sound too offensive, but it was a hard question to ask in a nice way. Regardless of how he felt about Sasuke's attitude, he wasn't going out to pick fights with him when they had barely even talked before.

Sasuke didn't say anything necessarily, but he instead flicked his eyes up to Sakura and Ino, then back to Naruto, then back again.

"Wait. You want to sit next to me because of them?" Naruto asked

Sasuke leaned in and quickly spoke in a hushed tone. "Keep it down. They always try to pester me every day to sit next to them. It's irritating. If the three of us sit together, they won't sit next to me. You and Kiba get to sit next to each other, and we all win. OK?"

"Um…alright then. I guess that's fine." Naruto said in an equally quiet tone.

"Thanks. You can't imagine what it's like to deal with that all day every day." Sasuke stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

Although, much to Naruto's surprise, Sasuke kept talking to Naruto. "Oh yeah, I just wanted to say…..nice fight yesterday. I only heard about your fight with Kiba, but it was pretty gutsy of you to take that punch for the sake of winning yesterday. I can respect that, even if I lost. But know this Naruto. You too Kiba. Next time, I won't lose." He said determined as could be.

Naruto broke out into a wide grin. "Well thanks Sasuke. You did great too."

In the last three days, Naruto had learned about an entire organization from a super long time ago that had a style practically suited to him, and he had earned the respect of two of his classmates.

 _'I have a feeling that this is gonna be a good year.'_

At that, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kiba turned toward the front of the room, and waited for the teacher to come in.

While they waited however, Sakura and Ino practically flew down the stairs and started yelling at Kiba and Naruto to move so that they could sit next to their "Sasuke-kun".

Naruto was about to step in and say that Sasuke said he didn't want to sit next to them, but Kiba spoke up first.

"Why should we sit up for you? There are plenty of empty seats in here. If Sasuke really wants to sit next to you, he'll just move to you. Stop inconveniencing other people!" Kiba exclaimed

Sakura and Ino looked angry for a second, but then their faces switched to a thoughtful look. Ino spoke first. "Hey forehead, we'll sit in different parts of the room. Whoever Sasuke-kun sits next to wins."

"You're on Ino pig." Sakura responded.

And with that, they both ran off to opposite sides of the room to wait for Sasuke. Of course, he just kept looking forward with a blank expression on his face trying to ignore everything. Although, he also shot a quick grateful look towards Naruto and Kiba.

At that moment, Iruka-sensei and some white haired guy walked into the classroom.

"Everyone sit down!" Iruka bellowed

In an instant everyone was seated somewhere and those who hadn't been sitting had scrambled for the nearest seat.

"OK everyone. I'd like you all to meet my new assistant teacher this year. Mizuki, say hello."

The newly named Mizuki spoke up.

"Hello class. My name is Mizuki, but you may refer to me as Mizuki-sensei. I am a chunin of Konoha. I enjoy training and gardening, I hate ramen, and my dream is to help all of you become wonderful ninja one day."

Instantly a certain blond haired boy began to glare straight at the new assistant teacher. _'He hates ramen?! Who the hell hates ramen?'_ If looks could kill, Mizuki would be dead.

A resounding "Hello Mizuki-sensei" echoed throughout the room. The white haired chunin simply smiled back and waved.

Iruka began addressing the class once again. "OK everyone. Today we are going to be addressing the different levels of mission difficulties, ninja ranks, and the 25 shinobi rules."

"First, can anyone here recite to me the five mission difficulties and ninja ranks?"

The civilian boy, Hori spoke first. "Uhh. The ninja ranks are Academy students, genin, chunin, special jounin, jounin, anbu, and the hokage. And isn't it D, C, B, A, and S-rank missions?"

"Very good Hori. Can you tell me what each usually contains, how much they pay, and who usually accepts them?" Iruka asked.

"D-ranks are generally assigned to fresh genin still learning after leaving the academy. They usually consist of odd jobs such as farming, painting, and babysitting. They pay anywhere between 5,000 and 50,000 ryo depending on the difficulty of the job and who is paying for it."

"C-rank missions are usually given to experienced genin and chunin. These are missions that have little or no risk of combat against enemy ninja. Some would be guarding against bandits or highwaymen, background investigations, eliminating or capturing bandits or thieves, and capturing or suppressing wild animals. The reward for C-ranks are between 30,000 and 100,000 ryo."

"B-rank missions are assigned to experienced chunin and sometimes special jounin. C-ranks usually contain combat with enemy ninja. Examples would include guarding people, espionage, or taking out other ninja. The reward is between 150,000 and 200,000 ryo."

"A-rank missions are assigned only to experienced special jounin and jounin. These consist of, among other things, village-or state-level matters and trends. Possible missions would be guarding VIPs or suppressing ninja forces. The reward for an A-rank mission is between 15,000 and a 1,000,000 ryo."

"Finally are S-ranks. S-ranks are assigned strictly to only the most experienced jounin, and Anbu agents, and concert state-level confidential matters. They can include assassinating VIPs, and transporting important documents and files. They reward is always more than 1,000,000 ryo."

Once Hori was done reciting the five mission types, most of the students were thoroughly impressed with his knowledge. Hori had always been the smartest of the boys, and he even rivaled Sakura in terms of pure knowledge.

Iruka spoke once again. "Very good Hori! You have clearly been keeping up with your studies over the summer. Now, who can tell me the 25 shinobi rules that we are expected to follow?"

The rest of the next three hours went the same as the first question. Sakura was the one to answer and recite the 25 shinobi rules,

 **3 hours later**

By the end of the lecture about how each part of the shinobi system worked and how each part of it was important, every student was bored out of their mind, even Sakura was beginning to dread it. Hori was an academic genius as well but it didn't mean that he liked lectures. He just liked knowing things.

By the time that two hours had passed, Naruto, Kiba, and surprisingly, Sasuke were all fast asleep with their faces on their desks. Naruto had of course fallen asleep soon after the one hour mark, which was actually fairly impressive for him. Kiba had fallen asleep at about one hour and twenty minutes in, and Sasuke had fallen asleep right on the dot at the two hour mark. Just because he was a genius didn't mean that he didn't get bored.

Iruka had tried to wake them up, but to no avail. They were all in a deep sleep.

 _'I swear, they haven't even been friends for an hour yet and Sasuke is already picking up Naruto's bad habits.'_

"OK everyone. We're going to go outside today to go over some of the basic stances again. Let's go."

"But sensei! What about Sasuke-kun?" Ino and Sakura asked quickly. Seemingly forgetting the other two boys sleeping right next to Sasuke.

"Naruto, Kiba, AND Sasuke will all be left here. Clearly they still need their rest from the first day. If they wanted to attend, they should have stayed awake. We'll attempt to wake them before lunch."

As they left, Sakura approached Sasuke's sleeping form. She had to wake him up. It wasn't fair that someone like Sasuke-kun would get stuck in a room with two idiots like Naruto and Kiba just because he was tired. Little did she know, Sasuke was asleep for the same reason as the other two, the lecture was boring as hell.

But right before she could touch Sasuke, she heard Iruka's voice from across the hall. "Oh, and Sakura? If you wake any of them up, I'll have you sitting outside of class for the rest of the day after lunch."

At that, Sakura instantly began walking at a brisk pace towards the door. _'Sorry Sasuke-kun. I'm sure you'll be fine.'_

 **2 hours later**

"Wake up you idiots. You missed training AND lunch." A loud voice announced from above the three previously sleeping boys.

"WE MISSED LUNCH?!"

"Dammit. I missed training."

The former was called out by Naruto and Kiba, while the latter was mumbled by Sasuke.

"Dammit Naruto. I only went to sleep because Iruka sensei wasn't saying anything about you guys and I was bored."

"Well I'm glad that you take after me so much Sasuke." Naruto said sarcastically

Kiba just snorted at that.

When the three boys looked up to see who had addressed them. It was none other than the resident sleeper of the class, Shikamaru.

"Damn. You guys can't start stealing my thing. If more people start sleeping in class, the teachers are going to start enforcing the rules even more and I'll never get any sleep."

"Why would we care Shikamaru?" Kiba spoke up.

"Troublesome. Whatever, come on. Iruka-sensei sent me to wake you three up. There's only two hours left in the school day you know." He then walked out of the classroom with the three boys right behind him.

Naruto perked up "So Shikamaru, what's the class doing now?"

"It's troublesome, but we're practicing Shurikenjutsu and general accuracy until the day is up."

 **2 hours later**

After two hours of accuracy training, the students were released for the day. Sasuke stuck around for a short time to talk with Naruto and Kiba about techniques, and their general fighting styles. Sasuke used his family's interceptor fist style which revolved around predicting and anticipating your opponent's moves and moving accordingly.

Kiba's family didn't have a specific style per se, but their teachings generally revolved around the partnership and coordination with their ninken.

Naruto however, didn't really have any specific style at all. He just kind of….rushed in all the time. Contrary to popular belief, he did think somewhat before he went in, but he didn't really have any guidelines to base himself on. Once he learned the light style taijutsu of course, that would change. But until then, he was stuck with the basic academy style.

Soon after however, Sasuke had left to go home, saying that he was going to go train.

That just left Naruto and Kiba.

"We should probably start heading towards my place soon if we want to get any real training in." Kiba stated.

"Hm. Sure, let's go." And they began to walk towards the Inuzuka clan compound.

* * *

 **20 minutes later, The Inuzuka Compound, Konohagakure no Sato**

The Inuzuka compound was huge. Not as big as the Hyuuga or the now mostly vacant Uchiha clan of course, but still very large even for a ninja clan.

The compound itself was surrounded by a large solid gate about 4 meters tall all around, with the Inuzuka clan symbol above the entrance to the compound. There were guards posted all around the wall patrolling and some on top of it keeping watch at all times. They also had sensor seals placed all around their compound in a 1 mile radius in the forest around it that were created and placed by Jiraiya of the sannin. The Inuzuka clan was serious about security, and with good reason too.

Not only were they a prestigious ninja clan of trackers, but their compound was also filled with ninken. In other words, an extremely valuable asset to Konoha. The ninken of the Inuzuka clan were bred to perfection over hundreds of years. Combat was practically written into their genes. The instinct, the size, the intelligence, the power, and some of them even had the ability to speak properly.

Any opposing village, or even an allied one would kill to have a few of Konoha's ninken pups to themselves. If they were to get their hands on just two that they could use to breed, they could create an entirely new clan in their own village much like the Inuzuka.

But Naruto just saw a huge wall. "Damn Kiba. Your house is huge."

Kiba just grinned. "Oh this is just the outside. Just wait until you see the actual house. It's awesome."

They crossed through the gate. The guards allowing them in after a security check. Apparently being the heir of the clan didn't get you past that. Fortunately, the guards didn't seem to hold any ill will against Naruto like the other villagers.

Then Naruto saw the actual compound. And Kiba wasn't lying.

It. Was. AWESOME!

There were dogs. Everywhere. There was a large lawn that stretched out from the gate to the front porch of the main house. It was littered with dog toys, dog houses, obstacle courses for dogs and people, feeding areas, running tracks, and pretty much everything dog related that you could think of.

Naruto had always had a fondness of dogs. Animals in general were always cool but dogs always seemed to be exceptionally ok with him being around.

"Woah Kiba you weren't wrong. This is awesome. How many dogs are there?"

"Three-hundred and forty seven. Fifty two of them are pups." Kiba said with extreme pride.

"347?! That's so many! Can….can we play with them ya know?" Naruto asked with wide eyes like a small child asking for permission from an adult.

A hearty laugh came from in front of them. "Hahaha. Sure thing Naruto. Right after training of course."

They both looked up to see a woman with a jounin flak jacket, large spiky hair, purple lipstick, and red markings above her eyes and on her cheeks.

Kiba was the first to speak. "Oh hey mom! I brought Naruto."

This was Kiba's mom? Well she certainly looked like him. Or he looked like her? Naruto didn't really care. She looked strong though.

"Oh hey Kiba's mom! I'm Naruto." Naruto said happily.

She only laughed more at Naruto's straightforward attitude. "Haha. Nice to meet you kid. I like that attitude. There are too many stuck up businessmen and nobles who can't lighten up under any situation, even the ninja. I'm Tsume Inuzuka. You can call me whatever you want. I don't really care."

Now this was someone Naruto could get along with.

"Come on little pups. Let's go back into the training arena to start training." Tsume said, turning around and heading towards the main compound.

They all headed inside of the compound itself, and it was nearly as filled with dog toys and accessories as the outside yard. Unlike the other clan compounds Naruto had seen, the Inuzuka compound had a much more welcoming and homely feel to it.

The "training arena" was essentially more of the same as the front yard had been, other than the fact that there was some faded paint indicating arena lines and numerous craters in the ground, even a few blast marks from explosive tags.

Yep. This was definitely Naruto's kind of place.

"All right Naruto, I already know how Kiba fights, and I saw your fight against him. I want to see how you act in a fight against someone who severely outclasses you." Tsume then assumed the basic Inuzuka fighting stance with her arms in front of her with a slight crouch.

Normally, Naruto would have refuted what she said and yelled that he was going to beat her into the ground, but instead, he just got into his own basic academy stance on the other side of the field and waited for a signal to begin. He somehow knew that he couldn't beat her. That didn't mean he wouldn't try, but he could practically feel the difference in their skill.

Kiba took a position on the side of the arena to serve as the referee.

…

"Hajime!"

With that, Naruto immediately bolted straight towards Tsume. Strangely enough, she only stood in place, waiting for him to come to her. He dipped down and aimed an uppercut straight at her jaw, trying to do some quick damage as soon as he could.

However, instead of Naruto's fist connecting, Tsume just leaned back slightly, just enough to dodge his fist, and instead buried her own into Naruto's stomach.

Naruto slid back a considerable amount, but stopped about two meters away from her. He was still reeling from the powerful punch to his gut. "Damn. You really pack a punch."

"Damn straight. If I didn't, I wouldn't be worthy of being a jounin, or the head of the Inuzuka clan. Come at me again kid."

And so he did. He rushed Tsume over, and over, and over again until Tsume called time. He hadn't made any significant improvements, but it was certainly enough for Tsume to see his flaws and his strengths.

As they sat down and drank their water, Tsume went over what he did well and what he needed to work on. "Alright kid. Here's what I've got to tell you. First off, what you are good at. To start, your stamina is insane. You can use that to your advantage. It gives you more of a range of options in terms of fighting. You don't have to stall your fight, and you don't have to focus on ending it quickly either. Second, your speed. Of course, you're nowhere near my speed, but for an academy student, even among some genin, your speed is fairly impressive, which can help depending on what taijutsu style you choose to go with. Lastly, you have good instincts. You're creative and fast to improvise in a fight if things go wrong. You are capable of pulling the unexpected out of nowhere." She took a quick pause before starting again.

"However, that's where the outstanding pros end. There are lots of things that you need to work on as well. First of all, you get too heated in battle. There's nothing wrong with being determined, but you can't afford to let your anger and frustration in battle hinder your fighting. Second, your fighting style. There isn't anything wrong with it per se, but you still only use the generic basic academy style. It focuses mainly around protecting your hands and having them available for taijutsu and ninjutsu. You're going to want to work on finding something that fits you better."

"Third, your strategy. Sure, you can think up plans on the fly, but there is only so much you can do without a predetermined plan put in place. You need to be able to think ahead and rationalize your thinking. Without a plan, you'll be stumbling around in the dark trying to find a way out."

"Aside from those things, there are only a few minor details that need ironing out. But before you tackle that, you need to work on the biggest problems first."

Naruto bowed slightly in respect. He wasn't really one for formality, but clearly she had pointed out many things that he needed to work on and had helped him learn. "Thank you Tsume-san. I'll work on that."

"Eh. That'll do. Good job pup. Once you iron out those huge bumps in your style, you should be a lot better off in a fight."

Until about 6:00 PM, the three of them switched sparring partners. Sometimes Naruto would spar with Tsume, and sometimes Kiba. Sometimes Naruto would sit and watch how Kiba and Tsume fought and take mental notes.

"All right that's good enough for today. You two get cleaned up and ready for dinner. Be at the table by 6:30."

Naruto just looked confused "Huh? Both of us? Shouldn't I be going?"

Tsume just looked at him with a concerned face. Had he never been invited anywhere? To anyone else's house? 'Damn Sarutobi. I thought you knew better than to let Minato's child be all alone.'

"Of course Naruto. You trained with us for almost four hours. And besides, you're Kiba's friend. Part of his pack. I couldn't let family eat alone."

 _'Damn straight. From this day on I'm making sure this boy gets what he needs. Including a family.'_

"Yeah! Come on Naruto!" Kiba exclaimed wildly, grabbing Naruto's arm and whisking him away into the house.

* * *

 **30 minutes later, dining room, Inuzuka Compound, Konohagakure no Sato**

Tsume, Kiba, Hana, and Naruto had all sat down at a low table with cushions as seats. Tsume was at the head of the table while Hana was on the left side, and Naruto and Kiba were on the right. There was a full course meal on the table with everything to offer. There were different selections of drinks, there was salad, fruit, veggies, and multiple types of mean to choose from.

"Dang mom. You really went all out on this one." Kiba said.

"Of course. I can't just have the norm while Naruto is here can I? I need to make a good showing."

Kiba just grinned. "Hey Naruto can you come over more often?"

"Huh? Uhh. Sure Kiba. I don't see why not." Naruto said, somewhat confused still as to what was going on.

Then Hana spoke. "So, you're the Naruto that I've been hearing so much about. Kiba keeps talking about you non-stop. You should have seen him when he got home from the hospital. He was already trying to train hard to prepare to fight you again." She said smiling all the way through.

Kiba couldn't contain his blush at his sister's comment. "Sis! Come on! You didn't have to tell him that. That just makes me sound weird. Sorry Naruto."

"Sorry? Why should you be sorry? As soon as I got back, I started training too. Hell, I even went to the library and got some scrolls to study." Naruto blurted out quickly.

Tsume shot Naruto a quick motherly glare. "Language at the table young man. It's fine anywhere else, but control yourself while you're eating."

"Yes ma'am."

A minute passed before anyone said anything else. Until Naruto spoke up once again.

"So Kiba, why aren't you eating with the rest of your clan? Aren't you like, one big group?"

"Well duh Naruto. But we can't very well eat with all of them you know. There are more clan members here than there are dogs. Of course, some of them are out on missions, but that still leaves us with about 300 clan members."

Naruto almost spit out what he had been drinking before swallowing. "Th-three hundred?! And that isn't even all of them?! Geez Kiba how do you keep up with it all?"

"Eh. You get used to it I suppose. I grew up around the clan so I don't really know any different." Kiba said as a fact.

"Huh. OK then. I guess that explains it. That's still a ton of family members you know." Naruto said slightly sad. Naruto thought he was hiding it well, but Tsume was a highly trained jounin.

Tsume barely held back a small flinch when she remembered that Naruto didn't have any family. He may not mind the topic now, but she couldn't risk letting the conversation stray into darker territories.

"Ah, well never mind that. How's the academy this year Naruto?" Tsume asked, quickly attempting to get off of the topic.

"Hm? Oh, well it's pretty good I guess. It's only been three days though, so don't really have much to base it off of."

"Well that's good. The academy should be enjoyable. It's an important time in your life, your education."

Kiba just snorted. "Hello? You don't say stuff like that. What's gotten into you mom?"

Damn pup. He may have been talented, but he had absolutely no tact whatsoever. She would need to beat that into him at some point. "Well of course I don't normally say that stuff to you Kiba. I see you every day. It's a whole different story. Anyway, I'm glad to hear you're doing well Naruto. You should probably get going as soon as you're done eating though. I don't want you walking around in the dark for too long."

 _'Don't pursue it Kiba. Let it die. I don't have the patience to deal with this right now.'_

"Hm? Oh alright." Naruto finished his plate in a couple of minutes and stood up with his plate and fork. "Uhh. Tsume-san, where should I put this?"

"Don't worry about it pup. Just leave it on the table. I'll have Kiba clean it up later."

"What?! Mom!" Kiba exclaimed.

Naruto seemed kind of confused by the antics of the two, but he accepted it nonetheless. _'Must be some clan thing.'_

"Oh ok then. Well I guess I'll see you around Kiba. Bye." And with that, Naruto was out the door and on his way back home.

"Hold on Kiba. I'll be right back." And Tsume left out the front door as well.

When she caught up to Naruto, she put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey Naruto, I just want you to know, you're welcome back here any time. If you ever want to train again, just tell Kiba or come by here."

"Sure thing Tsume-san! I'll definitely come back soon ya know!" Once again, Naruto left into the distance.

Tsume signaled to a clan member meant to watch over Kiba. "Go. Follow him and make sure he gets home safely. I can watch Kiba until you get back."

"Yes Tsume-sama." Said the clan member, then he disappeared in a quick shunshin.

When Tsume got back into the dining room, she just whacked Kiba on the back of the head.

"Ow! Mom! What was that for?"

"You idiot. What were you doing there spouting about all the clan members? You know Naruto doesn't have a family. What do you think that made him feel?"

Kiba's face flashed in realization. "Oh damn. I didn't even realize. That's why you were trying to change the subject."

Tsume's face softened once again. "It's alright. Just make sure it doesn't happen again."

* * *

 **The Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato**

Naruto plopped down on his soft bed. Man, even with his monstrous stamina, that full workout really tired him out. At least for a short while.

He figured that since he was still working on his Chakra purification technique, he would get a start on his new taijutsu style like Tsume recommended. He stood up and walked over to the glass cabinet that held the scrolls. He used the key around his neck to unlock the lock and took out the taijutsu scroll.

-Introduction to the Light Style Taijutsu-

 _To begin, light style taijutsu is focused on the legs. More specifically, it revolves around extremely quick movements, and fast and hard kicks. The light style taijutsu is meant for people who specialize in speed and have a higher lower body strength. This style will not function properly for people who focus on their upper body strength and dish out hard punches while standing relatively still._

 _Of course, this isn't to say that you can entirely slack off in terms of keeping your upper body strength up to code. A problem that most early practitioners of this style run into frequently is the tendency to work out the lower body so much more than the upper body that the torso and arms can't take the impact of their own kicks, and they end up injuring themselves in the long run. This also means that the style incorporates other techniques such as grapples, holds, locks, reverses, and even weapon usage that require equal upper body strength._

 _The first step to practicing the light style taijutsu is clearly improving your leg strength so that you can quickly perform your needed actions. The proper way to do this throughout the day without dedicating all of your time to intense workouts is through putting training weights on both your ankles and your wrists. Weight seals are the preferred form of course, but they are rather hard to obtain depending on where you are. We personally have a decent stock of them here in the chambers that were generously supplied by the Uzumaki clan a couple of years back._

*Snap*

A small segment of floorboard below Naruto's right foot snapped from Naruto putting immense pressure on it.

 _'I had a clan. A clan that apparently made seals. Who are they? Where are they? Why did I never hear about them?'_

Naruto's head was swimming with the possibilities of what this implied. He might not be alone. Or maybe he still was. Maybe the Uzumaki clan didn't exist anymore. Maybe it was just him. But Jiji had to have known. Why wouldn't he tell him if he had known? He couldn't have known. But…..What if he did. What if he just hadn't told Naruto?

He was going to find out. And he was going to do it the simplest way he could think of, he was going to go ask Jiji. He had never found anything before. More research wouldn't help. Or maybe the chamber libraries could.

He threw the scroll against his bed and bolted out towards the library. When he got there, he looked in the large library directory for the clan section. He needed to go straight down the hall, take a left up the stairs, turn right, then go up the spiral staircase in front of him. And so he did.

Naruto ran as fast as he could through the empty hallway. Straight. Left. Right. Went up the spiral staircase.

And sure enough, there it was. The clan section.

He searched through and looked for the U section.

There were some he recognized and some he didn't.

Through the list of clans, one was the Uchiha clan.

Eventually he finally found it. The Uzumaki clan.

It said that the Uzumaki clan was a prominent clan in the land of whirlpools. That was just off the coast of Konoha. It stated that those of the Uzumaki clan possessed naturally long lifespans due to their incredibly strong life force.

The Uzumaki were most famed for their fuinjutsu, the seal of which typically appears as a spiral crest reminiscent of the Uzumaki's symbol.

Damn. It didn't have any reference to whether or not the Uzumaki's were still around. Of course it didn't. Everything here was as old as the library, If not older. There hadn't been any updates to the library in about one thousand years.

New plan. Confront Jiji with the bare minimum amount of information. Just that he knew that the Uzumaki clan once existed. Say that he read it in a book in the library. But only in exchange for other information. Naruto locked the scroll back up, grabbed his gear, and bolted towards the hokage tower. Jiji should have been there at least until 8:00. He still had time.

* * *

 **Hokage Tower, Konohagakure no Sato**

The people at the front desk barely registered what had happened as an orange blur quickly made it's way past them and towards the Hokage's office.

Naruto burst into the Hokage's office quickly and made his way to his desk, all the while staring the Hokage in the eyes with a slightly hidden anger, but not completely by any means. Naruto didn't even register that there was another person sitting in a chair in front of the Hokage.

"JIJI! What the hell is this bullshit!?"

The visitor addressed Naruto quickly. "You ruffian, how dare you refer to Hokage-sama in such a manner. Hokage-sama, worry not, I will deal with this boy myself."

The visitor was a tall man with black glasses and a bandana around his head. He wore general Jounin attire without the flak jacket.

That was when the Hokage spoke. "No need Ebisu. Please, wait outside until this is dealt with."

"But Hokage-sama I-" Ebisu was cut off by the Hokage's hand being held up.

"Ebisu. That was not a request. Go. Wait. Outside. We will continue this conversation later."

And so he did. Ebisu grudgingly stomped out the door.

The Hokage silently signaled for his Anbu to leave the room as well and he activated the privacy seals that would prevent them from being overheard. Whatever Naruto had to say, it was serious.

"Now, Naruto. What seems to be the problem?"

"What do you mean what's the problem?! God dammit Jiji, I believed you all this time! Why did you never tell me that the Uzumaki were a clan ya know?!"

Ah. So that is what this was about. Sarutobi didn't know how Naruto found out, but the fact was that he did, and now he had to be the one to do something about this.

"Naruto what are you talking about? I never hid anyth-"

"Don't play dumb with me Jiji! I know about the Uzumaki clan! What happened to them!?"

Hiruzen sighed heavily. "Honestly Naruto I was hoping to prevent us from having this discussion for years to come. What you must understand Naruto is that the Uzumaki clan had many powerful enemies. Enemies that would hunt you down until your final breath if they knew who you were. The best way to keep anyone else from knowing was to keep you from knowing as well. I am sorry Naruto." Sarutobi said sadly.

Naruto's rage did subside some. At least now the Hokage was telling him the truth. "So? Tell me Jiji. How did they disappear?"

"Well Naruto, to be honest with you, they were destroyed along with Uzushiogakure nearing the beginning of the second great ninja war. An alliance of Kumogakure, Kirigakure, and many other small villages banded together to eradicate Uzushiogakure due to the fear of the Uzumaki's famous abilities of sealing. Essentially, that is all I know Naruto. I truly am sorry that you had to find out about it this way. However, if I may ask, how did you find out?" _'Please don't let it be Danzo. Please don't let it be Danzo'_

Naruto looked up and answered with tears in his eyes. "I found it out in a taijutsu scroll I found in the library. It said that the best way to strengthen your muscles was weights, and it referenced that Weight seals would be even more effective, which were manufactured at one point by the Uzumaki clan."

Sarutobi sighed a mental sigh of relief in his head.

"I…..I see. Tell me Naruto, do you remember which scroll this was?"

Once again, Naruto answered. "No. I don't remember the name. Something about some Hikari guy though." Naruto lied. It technically wasn't a complete lie. It was a scroll he found in a library. Just not the Konoha Library. Hell, they wouldn't even let him in if they could get away with it.

"I see. Very well Naruto. I apologize you had to find out this way.

"It's alright Jiji. I'll live. Naruto then left and headed back towards the chambers. When he got back, he properly put away the scroll, and took the key out from around his neck to put it on the cabinet. He then plopped down in his bed once again.

And this time, he was really going to sleep.

 **Author's Note: Hey guys! I hope you liked this chapter of The True Child of Light. As always, if anyone has any questions, please either PM me or leave a review. I constantly check them and will make sure to respond to any questions you guys have for me. However, before I go I want to address something, then ask the question I mentioned at the start of this chapter.**

 **First of all, yeah. Sasuke is going to be less of a douche in this. There isn't going to be any bashing of a character. Or at least not a character that is usually bashed. (The character I do have in mind isn't really going to get bashed. Just…reprimanded I suppose.) No. This does not mean that this story will be a Yaoi fic. In fact, there will be no lemons in this either. I'm not comfortable writing that at all.**

 **OK. Time for the question. You ready?**

 **What summons should Naruto get? I know that is super predictable but seriously. I want to know. I will tell you now, what is being ruled out and what will be a possibility. Of course, if there are any I don't name, or some you come up with, please say so.**

 **Things that it can't be:**

 **• Slugs (They don't fit Naruto. At all.)**

 **• Snakes (The fuck? Don't give me that shit)**

 **• Phoenixes (Kinda lame TBH. Like….they are fire birds. Get over it)**

 **• Dragons (I plan to do one of those at some point in the future. Fret not)**

 **• Dogs (I know that it might seem like I've been hinting at it, but I'm not. Naruto just likes dogs.)**

 **• Any birds (That's kinda Sasuke's thing later, and they are basically restricted to wind style mostly.)**

 **• Any insects (Ugh. No)**

 **• Tortoise (I read a story once where he had the Tortoise contract. It was OK. But they just don't fit this Naruto.)**

 **• Foxes. (I know that some of you have already voted, but hear me out. Most of you give the reason that he would have an affinity for foxes because of Kurama. However, what most people forget, its that Kurama is not an actual fox. Kurama is a fox shaped chakra construct. If Kurama were an actual demon, sure, I might play that card. Besides, as suggested by a reviewer, I actually plan to do something else with a fox. Don't worry about it, but if you have already voted for foxes, I recommend that you re-vote for something else. Sorry if this is what you really wanted, but I just don't feel comfortable with that. Naruto in this story isn't going to be super good buddies right off the bat. Kurama isn't just going to be like "Oh. This kid had a hard life. I feel bad for him and I'm going to help him." I'm sorry. But until later, Kurama is still an evil/misguided giant chakra construct that hates humanity and would tear Naruto to shreds if he had the chance.)**

 **Things that I am OK with (Suggestions please):**

 **• Salamanders (These are cool)**

 **• Toads (I might just keep it the same. IDK.)**

 **• Pandas (I have some interesting ideas for this one)**

 **• Cats (I mean, shit. I might be able to do something with them) (I mean the ones from the filler arc in the anime. You know, the Ninneko)**

 **• Also, I am maybe ok with Naruto possibly having two contracts. As long as they aren't two obviously conflicting contracts. For example, I wouldn't be paring Toads and Snakes. They hate each other.**

 **Anyway, I hope you all liked this chapter. Stayed up kinda late to finish it. Bye.**


	3. Chapter 3: New Friends

**Author's Note:** Welcome back everyone! I present to you, the third chapter of The True Child of Light. Thank you to all of you who have reviewed, followed, and favorited this story.

A few of announcements to begin.

• I have decided that Naruto will only get one summon group. However, feel free to vote for two. I will count both just in case you can't choose between them and want to leave it up to the other people. I have also decided that I will not be using foxes as a summon group. I will be doing something else with a fox. Worry not.

• On the topic of summons, I have decided which ones I will specifically NOT be doing, including the ones I listed before. If you don't care, or don't want to know, skip this. Some of you may complain that this should be at the end author's note, but I want to make sure that those of you who care see this.

• Toads. Too generic, sorry.

• Slugs (They don't fit Naruto. At all.)

• Snakes (The fuck? Don't give me that shit)

• Phoenixes (Kinda lame TBH. Like….they are fire birds. Get over it)

• Dragons (I plan to do one of those at some point in the future. Fret not)

• Dogs (I know that it might seem like I've been hinting at it, but I'm not. Naruto just likes dogs.)

• Any birds (That's kinda Sasuke's thing later, and they are basically restricted to wind style mostly anyway.)

• Any insects (Ugh. No)

• Monkeys (Those belong to the Sarutobi clan.)

• Tigers (Sorry to the person that wanted this, but I honestly just can't write it. I tried it as a test, and I failed. Badly.)

• I wanted to address somethings left by some guest reviewers. (Which by the way, if you want me to respond, you have to actually have an account.) This person wanted Naruto to get a family or clan summons from the Uzumaki clan. I will not be doing this. As I have stated before, I am trying to keep as much lore/backstory the same as canon as I can while still changing the entire story. Giving the Uzumaki clan a summon clan is too much in my opinion. It could possibly change the entire history of the Uzumaki. I will not be doing a "Master summon contract" where there is a whole type of summons such as "Wolves, foxes, coyotes, dog, etc." in a single contract. This person also said that the contract should be something that can fly because the sky would be "his domain" as a light ninjutsu user. That honestly doesn't make much sense. (Sorry for the long thing here)

• Someone wanted Naruto to have a Pegasus contract. This also will not happen. Not only does that fly, but I will not be doing any mystical or mythical contracts in this story. Sorry.

• I have said it before, but please, if you have any problems with grammar or any suggestions about how I wrote something, please don't hesitate to ask about it.

• Someone sent me a PM asking if I was going to go through each and every day of the academy. My answer is no, I will not be describing every day. However, for now while Naruto gets situated and is still learning the basics, I will be going through every single day. I also will not only be doing one day per chapter. I may have a chapter span 4-5 days in one chapter at some point. Later on I will also be doing some week or month time-skips. So don't worry about it.

Sorry about the lengthy thing here, but I wanted everyone to see this before they read any of this chapter. Without further ado, enjoy.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. If I did, Naruto wouldn't have spent 25 hours a day looking for Sasuke instead of training. Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the official release.

"Shut it teme." – Regular speech

 _'Baka!'_ – Internal thoughts

 _:Shannaro!:_ – Inner Sakura

 _-Random book mumbo jumbo stuff-_ –Books

 **"I swear I'm going to eat you brat."** – Bijuu talking

 ** _'Hmm. The kid isn't half bad.'_** – Bijuu thinking

 **"Katon: Goukakakyuu no Jutsu!"** (Fire release: Great Fireball Technique) – Jutsu

 **Chapter 3: A New Friend**

 **The Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, day 4 of the academy, Thursday**

Naruto awoke that morning with a large yawn. He looked over at the battery powered analog clock that he had bought. Even if he couldn't use his electrical appliances, there was no reason that he should have to go outside every morning to see what time it was.

After a moment of rubbing his eyes and focusing his vision, he saw that the clock read 6:30. He still had an hour and a half before he had to be at the academy. He could probably be fully ready in about 10 minutes normally, but in this case, he had to get back to his apartment to brush his teeth and take a shower.

"Damn, I really need to learn to install piping and electrical outlets." Naruto said in an extremely groggy tone.

One huge downside to the chambers was that they were from a REALLY long time ago. Any self-cleaning facilities were at a separate area somewhere. Most likely somewhere that had been destroyed and repurposed long ago.

Naruto got dressed in a simple orange t-shirt and black sweatpants and climbed out of the hatch. It was still somewhat dark outside, but there were signs of the sun beginning to poke up above the horizon. He began hopping through the trees and above rooftops towards his apartment.

* * *

 **20 minutes later, Naruto's Apartment, Konohagakure no Sato, 6:55**

Naruto unlocked his door with his key and walked right into the somewhat empty house. He now had an actual reason to lock his door. If anyone he knew were to notice that he wasn't coming in and out of his own apartment, there was a chance that they would come to check if he was there.

If they managed to walk right in by just turning the knob, they would know that something was wrong. If they were to confront Naruto about it, he wasn't sure that he would be able to hide the truth for very long.

Anyway, Naruto walked in and thoroughly brushed his teeth. He wasn't going to be making the trip every single day, so he couldn't afford to skimp on the days he did. For the most part, he just dry scrubbed his teeth otherwise. Afterwards, he stripped down and stepped into his shower. After about 15 minutes of showering, he stepped out of the shower, put on his clothes once again and rushed out the door towards the chambers.

'Yep. I really need to figure out plumbing.'

* * *

 **20 minutes later, The Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, 7:35**

Once Naruto got back, he strapped his ninja tool kits on, put his goggles on his head, and walked into the library. He might as well stroll around and look at what it had to offer before he had to leave.

He saw all sorts of sections as he walked by. Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu. There were also sub-categories between sections. They read as such:

• Barrier Ninjutsu

• Shurikenjutsu (Throwing weapon techniques)

• Bukijutsu (Weapon techniques)

• Chakra Absorption Techniques

• Chakra flow and control

• Collaboration Techniques

• Fuinjutsu (Sealing techniques)

• Juinjutsu (Cursed seal techniques)

• Jujutsu (Curse techniques)

• Kenjutsu (Sword techniques)

• Medical Ninjutsu

• Nin-taijutsu (Ninja body enhancement techniques)

• Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline Limit)

• Kekkei Mora (Bloodline encompassing)

• Dojutsu (Eye Techniques)

Naruto didn't really understand what most of the sub-categories were and just confused him. He clearly knew what Shurikenjutsu and Bukijutsu were, and everyone above the age of five in Konoha knew what a Dojutsu and Kekkei Genkai was, but everything else was foreign to him. What in the world was Kekkei Mora? Unfortunately he didn't have time to find out. He needed to get going. He grabbed his two scrolls, put them in his backpack, and headed towards the hatch for the second time that day.

However, before he left he remembered something he had meant to do that morning. Naruto quickly ran into the order's storage room in desperate search of what he was looking for. Luckily, the order of light seemed to be clean freaks. They had categorized everything perfectly in categories and sub-categories, and everything was put in its own official slide out drawer.

At last, he found what he was looking for, seals. Naruto walked across the aisle and looked for weight seals. Once he had found them, he took out four weight seals that could fit around his ankles and wrists. He quickly wrapped them and bolted out of the chambers. He could activate and adjust them once he got to the academy. He needed to go fast if he wanted to get there on time.

* * *

 **5 minutes later, The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato**

Naruto had barely made it into the classroom at the last minute before the bell rang.

Iruka looked at Naruto and smiled. "Naruto, I'm glad that you're actually putting in an effort to be here on time this year. You were almost never on time last year."

Naruto simply smiled back. _'Was I really that bad? I guess I should start trying to always be on time from now on if I actually want to get anything done right.'_

Naruto just walked over to his seat next to Kiba and sat down. Apparently Sasuke had managed to use Naruto as an excuse to not let any of his fan club sit next to him.

 _'Heh. Glad to help I guess.'_ Naruto thought to himself.

Once Naruto had sat down, he channeled a little bit of chakra to the four weight seals. 'Holy shit! It feels like I just strapped four mini boulders to my limbs! This is the first fucking level?!' Naruto thought, obviously exaggerating. The first level was about 20 pounds on each limb, as opposed to the roughly 1200 pounds that a small boulder would actually be.

"Ok class. I'm going to hand you all the textbooks for this year. Remember to keep up with reading them throughout the year. You will be expected this year to study some materials outside of class. We have new books this year, so make sure to take good care of them." Iruka stated, looking over at Kiba, Naruto, and Shikamaru.

Audible groans could be heard across the entire room. Mizuki walked around the classroom and handed out the textbooks. However, when he handed Naruto a textbook he noticed something off about it. The edges were somewhat banged up, the coloring was slightly off, and it didn't have that same new paper smell that could be expected. He looked inside of the book at the front page and he noticed something odd.

Iruka began to speak again. "Ok class, please open your textbooks to the first page and write your name in the provided space. This is so tha-" He saw Naruto with his hand raised. That was strange, Naruto almost never asked a question in class unless it was about a Hokage. "Yes Naruto?"

Naruto looked concerned and confused at the same time. "Iruka-sensei, my book says that it's from ten years ago. It's kind of banged up too."

Iruka walked over to Naruto's desk and inspected Naruto's textbook. "Hm. It seems you're right Naruto. Mizuki, why would you give Naruto this?" Iruka knew exactly what was going on. Mizuki may have been his friend, but he knew that you could never know what to expect of people when it came to Naruto.

Mizuki turned around and spoke. "Oh, sorry Naruto. I guess one of the old textbooks got put in with the new ones. Here you go." He handed Naruto a new textbook.

Iruka immediately snatched up the new book and inspected it. After about 30 seconds of looking, he set it down, seemingly content with it. Then Iruka decided to take a risk. "Mizuki. Make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Understood? I will not allow any student of mine to be discriminated against because of a petty grudge." Iruka stated boldly.

Mizuki's eyes widened immediately, then shrunk back down. "Understood Iruka. I apologize."

Iruka didn't seem satisfied with this though. "Don't apologize to me Mizuki. Apologize to Naruto."

Once again, Mizuki didn't know what to make of this new development. Iruka was clearly dead set on sending a message, and making it very well known. "I…..I see. I apologize Naruto. This won't happen again." Mizuki said grudgingly while bowing his head slightly. 'Damn. Why am I apologizing to this demon?! Damn you Iruka!'

Naruto just looked confused. "Uhh, OK then. Apology accepted?"

It wasn't just Naruto who looked confused at this point. Every student in the room was mystified by the way this conversation unfolded.

Iruka finally looked satisfied and walked to the front of class. "Very good. Now everyone, please write your name in the front as instructed and turn to and read pages 3 through 6."

The class did so and began to read.

Kiba leaned over to Naruto. "Hey Naruto, what was that all about?"

Naruto just shook his head. "I don't know, but Iruka-sensei seemed angry. I wonder why."

* * *

 **7 hours later, The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato**

The bell rang and Academy students flooded out again.

Physical training that day had been hell. With the weight seals applied, it was a whole new experience. He had adapted to it somewhat throughout the day, but it was still 80 pounds collectively.

Kiba walked up to Naruto. "Hey Naruto are you gonna come train again? Mom won't be able to help today but we could still spar."

"Nah. I have to go do some training on my own today ya know. Bye!" Naruto said excitedly while running away backwards. Naruto still had to get used to the weight seals, and he knew Tsume would question why he was moving so slowly.

Kiba shook his head again today. "Damn, that Naruto sure is a mystery. Whatever, come on Akamaru! We can't fall behind!" With that, Kiba also ran in the opposite direction.

* * *

 **The previous night, Inuzuka Compound, Konohagakure no Sato**

An Inuzuka clan member with a chunin flak jacket rushed back into the compound as fast as he could. He confirmed his identity and bolted straight towards the main house. When he got inside, he saw Inuzuka Tsume sitting in the dining room, casually speaking with her eighteen year old daughter, Hana.

"Tsu-Tsu-TSUME-SAMA! Uzumaki-san, he-he-he disappeared!" The man yelled frantically.

Tsume immediately stood up and glared straight at the man. "Calm down Hari! What the hell do you mean he disappeared?!" She yelled angrily.

"I-I don't know Tsume-sama. I thought it was strange because he was running in a different direction than his apartment, but I continued to follow him nonetheless. Once we progressed a decent distance into one of the forested areas, Uzumaki-san sank through the ground as if he were climbing down a ladder! It was nothing like the Hiding like a Mole Technique! He simply sank through as if the ground weren't even there! When I inspected the forest floor, it was completely solid! I have no idea where he went!" Hari exclaimed quickly.

Tsume's face softened slightly. At least Naruto wasn't captured. 'He sank through the ground? A jutsu maybe? No. There's no recorded jutsu to make the body incorporeal, and even if there was, it would be an extremely complicated jutsu. High B-rank at least.'

"I see. Well it seems that Naruto is not in any sort of danger, so I don't think we should panic or worry. However, please go back to that spot in the forest and watch to see if he comes back out. Take an earpiece with you and report to me every hour."

* * *

 **Outside of the Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, 6:35 AM, Thursday**

Hari had been waiting all night for any new developments. Every hour he reported to Tsume, always the same message saying that there was no development. That is, until now. He saw Naruto climb back out of the ground the same way he had sunk down the previous night. He was now wearing different clothes. He was wearing an orange shirt and black sweatpants.

Hari touched the button on his earpiece and whispered into it. "Tsume-sama. I have a development."

After several seconds, Tsume's voice came through. "Yes Hari? Report."

"Uzumaki-san just emerged back out of the same spot that he did before. However, something is strange Tsume-sama. Uzumaki-san is wearing different clothes than he was last night. He clearly has some sort of base below the ground that he slept in overnight. He seems to now be headed towards his apartment."

…..

"I see. Very good Hari. Observe what he does until he arrives at the academy today. Then come back to the compound and get some rest. Thank you for this report."

For the next hour and a half, Hari reported on Naruto's whereabouts and movements.

* * *

 **The Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, 3:10, Thursday**

Naruto once again descended down the ladder to the chambers. Naruto dropped his pack on the ground next to his bed and flopped. The taijutsu scroll stated that he had to keep the seals on at all times excluding when he was showering and sleeping.

Naruto finished reading the first section of the taijutsu scroll. To start off, he was supposed to take a 15 mile run. Next, he needed to perform 300 log kicks and punches with each leg and each arm. Finally, he had to do 200 squats, 200 push-ups, and 200 curl-ups. He wasn't allowed a break throughout any of this.

"Seriously?! Who the fuck wrote this?!" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief.

He looked for a name at the bottom and saw something scribbled at the bottom. It was a name.

 **-** Have fun newbie, Isamu Uzumaki｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡

God. Dammit. "The last child of light?! AND SHE WAS AN UZUMAKI?!"

…..

"Why does everything have to be so complicated ya know?" Naruto whined.

"Dammit. I'll research her later, I need to finish this training schedule before it gets dark."

At that, Naruto got back up and slowly dragged himself out of the chambers, and towards one of the empty training grounds that he used sometimes.

* * *

 **2 hours later, Training ground 3, Konohagakure no Sato**

Finally. Naruto was finally done with that bat-shit crazy training schedule. Normally, it was almost impossible to tire him out. However, this made Naruto want to fall into his bed and never get up. How the hell was anyone else supposed to even attempt this right off the bat?

"Ugh. I'm done. I'm sleeping and never doing anything ever again." Naruto groaned.

Naruto ran back to his apartment, took a shower for the second time that day, then walked back to the Chambers.

* * *

 **The Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato**

Now that Naruto had finished his physical conditioning, he undressed, got into his pajamas, and sat down on his bed, and trained in trying to master the Chakra Purification Technique for the next hour. After the hour was up, he had managed to make significant progress in the technique, but he still didn't have it down properly. More or less, he could keep his chakra from mixing with his soul, but now the problem was flowing it back out of the soul. He could filter some out, but his body was trying to keep anything that was in his soul in it. After all, the soul wasn't supposed to leave its place, so there weren't any good ways to really get the chakra back out after it had been purified.

He read the scroll again, but it said that it was a normal problem that just needed to be practiced over and over again until the entire process was second nature. Some help that was. Luckily, it wasn't written by Isamu, so it wasn't as vague and sadistic as it could have been.

Naruto went to sleep that night having made a decent amount of progress.

* * *

 **Earlier that day after classes, The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato**

Mizuki was in the classroom after the students had left, grading the assignment for the day when an Anbu with a cat mask appeared in front of him. "Mizuki, your presence has been commanded by Hokage-sama. You are expected within the next ten minutes. Be there." And with that, the Anbu was gone.

Well the Anbu hadn't taken him with them, so he wasn't being outwardly punished for something, but if the Hokage was commanding him to report, he didn't have a choice. Even Mizuki wasn't naïve enough to think that he could escape an Anbu. He began walking towards the Hokage tower at a brisk pace.

Eight minutes later, Mizuki approached the Hokage's office. 'Why am I here? Did they find out about my involvement with Orochimaru-sama?'

Mizuki knocked on the door lightly.

…..

"Enter." Mizuki heard the Hokage's deep voice say.

Mizuki slowly opened the door and just as slowly shut it behind him. "You wished to see me Hokage-sama?"

"Indeed. Iruka, you may come out now." All of a sudden, Iruka stepped out from the shadow of the door.

Mizuki turned around surprised. "Iruka? What are you doing here?"

The Hokage was the first to speak. "He is here about a matter regarding you chunin Mizuki. Iruka just reported to me about your actions today towards young Naruto. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"It was just a simple mix-up Hokage-sama. An old book had somehow gotten misplaced and put into the batch of new ones."

Now Iruka stepped in. "That's impossible Mizuki. I stocked the books for this year myself. The only ones to have been in contact with them are you and I. On closer inspection, we found that two days ago you had logged yourself taking that very book from ten years ago for your own personal study."

"Mizuki, I will have you know that just like Iruka, I will not tolerate any prejudice towards Naruto Uzumaki or any other student in the Academy for ANY reason. I have asked Iruka to keep a constant eye on you from now on. If I get more reports of incidents like today, I will have you removed from a teaching position permanently. Do you understand?" The Hokage said with a serious tone, leaking out a little bit of his killing intent.

"Y-yes Hokage-sama. Understood." Mizuki said meekly.

"Very good. Dismissed."

* * *

 **The next morning, The Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, 6:30, Friday**

Naruto woke up once again with a yawn, feeling fully revitalized from the previous day. Looking over, he noticed that he once again had an hour and a half to get ready. He wasn't planning on showering until later today after training, so he had more time to explore the library. Naruto activated his weight seals once again and began his walk towards the library.

Strangely enough, it had quickly become a favorite pastime of the young blond. The library just seemed calming. It had a very homely feel to it in the air, and the smell of books wasn't half bad either. Something that he had discovered about the library was that it wasn't just shinobi books. It was also filled to the brim with books about history, crafts, etc. Unfortunately, having been from a little over 800 years ago, it didn't have any books or scrolls about plumbing and electrical working.

For the most part though, it had what he needed. Naruto walked back to the sub-categories of ninjutsu that he had seen before. He took basic scrolls on Collaboration Techniques and Kekkei Mora (Bloodline Encompassing). Actually, there was only one scroll about Kekkei Mora, but it was something.

Apparently, Kekkei Mora was used to describe the techniques used by the so called goddess, Kaguya Otsutsuki. That was it. There were some vague hand-scrawled notes about something called the All-Killing Ash Bones, and Rabbit Hair Needles.

"Damn. Well if I'm not going to get anything out of this scroll I might as well put it back. I guess now I can read this one about collaboration techniques." Naruto stated.

Naruto put back the scroll over Kekkei Mora and unrolled the one about Collaboration Techniques. Essentially a collaboration jutsu was stated to be the combination of two or more jutsu to create a new jutsu with a strength greater than the sum of its components. An example would be if one person used a fire ninjutsu, and the other used a wind ninjutsu, the wind would in turn, make the inferno stronger and would be classified as a collaboration jutsu.

In other words, as long as the two or more jutsu didn't conflict with each other, it would probably work and result in a stronger jutsu if used correctly. There were hand-drawn illustrations of possible combinations in the scroll.

"Woah. Collaboration jutsu are cool! Once I learn more jutsu, maybe I could do some of this!" Naruto exclaimed, not even realizing that to do a collaboration jutsu, you would need to, well…..collaborate with someone else.

Once Naruto had read what he wanted to know, he put the scrolls back and walked back towards his room. He once again spent his spare time practicing his Chakra Purification Technique. After about 30 minutes of practice, he got dressed in yet again another orange t-shirt, black sweatpants, his sandals, and his goggles. He debated if he should wear gloves to cover his weight seals today or if he should wear his usual jacket. In the end, Naruto of course chose to wear his usual jacket. The only difference now is that he left the front unzipped. What? He was trying out something new.

He strapped on his ninja pouches and left the Chambers.

Overall the day was a normal day, which based off of his week so far, was a nice change of pace. Nothing crazy happened for once. He went to the Academy, slacked off as usual, went out to training ground 3 to train, and had a shower. And that was when it hit him.

"I haven't been to Ichiraku's in four whole days! It's practically a sin ya know!" At that, Naruto ran into town, straight towards Ichiraku's.

* * *

 **5 minutes later, Ichiraku's Ramen, Konohagakure no Sato**

"Jiji! Sorry I haven't been by in a while. Things have been crazy lately ya know." Naruto exclaimed apologetically.

"Haha. Its fine Naruto, I'm sure that the academy has been keeping you busy. You want your usual I assume?"

Naruto beamed at the acceptance. "Of course!"

"Alright! One Naruto special coming right up!"

Once he had placed the ramen on the counter, Teuchi leaned against it. "So Naruto, how's it going? What have you been doing these past four days?"

As Naruto finished his first bowl, he answered. "Oh nothing much." Naruto lied. "Just been busy with some new training schedules." That wasn't a lie.

"Well that's good. I'm glad to see you really getting serious this year." Teuchi said with a smile as he handed Naruto his second bowl.

"Why does everyone keep saying that? I'm always serious about being a ninja!"

Teuchi backed up a little and put up his hands in defense. "Of course Naruto. You're always serious about your dreams, but you used to spend a lot of time pranking people and slacking off when you should have been training or studying."

Teuchi's words hit Naruto harder than expected. It wasn't like it was new information, but he never really thought about the fact that it might actually be his fault for not doing as well as he could have been. "Ah. Yeah I guess so. I suppose that with being with my age group for a change, I can't let them pass me by now ya know!"

"Indeed Naruto. Indeed" Teuchi said softly with a smile.

After Naruto had eaten eight bowls of Ramen, he paid for his food and left towards the chambers.

He practiced with his Chakra Purification Technique again. He almost had it down perfectly, it was just a matter of being able to execute the technique quickly at any time.

After he trained and read a little bit more about Shurikenjutsu and other weaponry, he went to sleep for the night.

* * *

 **The Next morning, The Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, 7:00, Saturday, 1:00 PM**

Today was the day. The day that everyone had been waiting for all week.

Saturday.

The famed day, worshiped by academy students all over Konoha, especially after the first week. Saturday was the day that signaled the start of the weekend. In other words, do whatever you want.

Naruto however had different plans, or more like a lack of plans. Most shops either denied him service or just overpriced things too much. Actually, they all did the latter, then once they were able to either get him to buy something outrageous or he figured it out, they would just deny him. Others simply gave him dirty looks and whispered behind his back when they thought he wasn't looking or listening.

It wasn't really a big deal at this point, but he really didn't feel like dealing with it right now. So now, Naruto was really just strolling through the streets of Konoha. He had already done his daily workout, and the scroll said to only do it twice a day with a five hour space in between.

Naruto had already had breakfast, finished workouts, showered, and all of a sudden, was pretty bored. Of course, he could have sat and meditated for an hour or two, but he had been doing that all week and it was getting tedious. In short, he needed a break.

After about twenty minutes of walking, Naruto had reached some of the outer buildings of Konoha. They weren't slums or anything like you would expect from the outer layer of a village, it was just less populated because it was a more forested area. If anything, the people there were richer and the houses were bigger. If you had enough money to get your own personal lot to do what you wanted with, you probably weren't packed in with the rest of the general populous.

That was why some diplomats, many farmers, and even some of the more successful shopkeepers lived in the outer layer. That was why Naruto wasn't surprised to see some particularly large houses scattered around in the forest with large fancy lawns.

He was surprised however, to see and old friend from his previous year at the academy sitting on the front porch of what seemed to be a very large shop. It was a large two story building with an attic and a basement. It seemed to have a very large forge at the side, and had smoke billowing out of a chimney at the top. The whole shop was painted a gold-caramel color, the same as the library in the chambers. The friend was Tenten, she was reading a book while sitting in a metal chair that looked strangely as if it had blast marks covering its surface.

Tenten had been one of the people who had actually made an attempt to be friendly to him, regardless of him being a year younger. Naruto decided to yell out to her. "Hey Tenten! Long time no see!"

Tenten looked up from her book. After seeing Naruto, she smiled and waved Naruto over. Apparently not wanting to yell.

Once Naruto had walked over to Tenten, she spoke in a more normal tone. "Hey Naruto. Sorry about that. My dad is having a meeting inside with a group of potential clients. How have you been? I heard you were back in the academy for your last year."

"I've been pretty good. Yeah, I'm back again to try. But don't worry, I'm gonna pass this time ya know!"

Oh the academy. Good times. Well good luck this year Naruto. Lemonade?" Tenten said, releasing Naruto and picking up a pitcher of lemonade.

"Hm, sure. So your dad runs a shop?" Naruto asked, sipping on the lemonade Tenten handed him. "Hey. This is good lemonade."

"Thanks. Yeah, dad used to be a ninja until he got an injury in the last war. He was a Jounin at one point. Now he runs this shop to help other ninja. He says it's a better use of his time anyway."

At that, five well-dressed men walked out of the shop to leave. When they saw Naruto, they sneered as always, but they didn't say anything. They just kept walking until they were out of sight.

Tenten sighed. "Well it looks like that's over. I guess we can go inside now."

The two of them went inside. The first floor looked to be the actual shop section while the second was most likely the actual living areas, and the attic and basement were probably for storage. The inside seemed to be the same gold-caramel color as the outside, if a little bit less faded. To the right of the door was a counter with a wide collection of large weapons on the rack behind it.

Throughout the store were metal racks filled with weapons of all kinds, armors, scrolls, and pretty much everything else you would ever need on a battlefield. They even had medical supplies and ingredients.

In the center of the room, there was a large circular table with a man sitting at it. The man stood at about 6'2" tall, had jet black hair, a bulky build, green eyes, and was wearing a blacksmith's apron, a thick t-shirt, and a pair of thick jeans.

The man turned around to face the two who had just walked in. "Hey Tenten. Oh, and you must be Naruto. Tenten used to talk about you all the time." The man said laughing.

"Yo." Naruto said casually, putting his hand up in a greeting gesture.

"Dad! You said you were going to let me introduce him when you met! We had all of this planned!" Tenten said with a full-face blush.

"Hahaha. Sorry Tenten, I got carried away and forgot I guess. So, what can we do for you Naruto? Here to buy something? Look around? Or perhaps you just came to see my daughter?" Tenten's father said semi-jokingly.

Now it was Naruto's turn to blush along with Tenten. Naruto was all of a sudden just a sputtering mess trying to correct the man. Naruto may have been dense, but he still knew enough to know what the man was implying.

"D-DAD!" Tenten yelled, sputtering and falling over herself just as much as Naruto.

"Hahaha! Sorry Tenten. It's just, the looks on your faces were absolutely priceless. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up. By the way, I'm Kadan Higurashi. Nice to meet you." He said, still laughing and speaking at the same time.

Once everything had calmed down, Tenten spoke up. "Oh yeah. Naruto, why are you here anyway?"

Naruto turned to Tenten, confused. "Huh? I just saw you in the middle of my walk and came over to talk. I didn't even know that you lived here, or that you had a shop."

"Oh. Ok then, I just figured that since you were this far out, you were here to buy stuff. People usually are. One of the biggest disadvantages of living this far out at the edges of Konoha is that not many people you know actually come by just for a visit." Tenten said.

However, she immediately lit up once again when an idea came to her. "But hey! Since you're here, let me show you around. You don't really look too outfitted for being a ninja right now. How about we change that?" Tenten said with a gleam in her eye.

"Uhh, sure? But I don't really have a ton of cash on me." Naruto stated, expecting the regular prices that he got for things. This guy may have been Tenten's dad, but he had learned that you could never just trust everyone right off the bat. For all he knew, this guy would send Tenten into a different room to do something while he totaled the prices, and would give Naruto some outrageous sum.

"That sucks. How much do you have on you?" Tenten asked curiously.

"90,000 ryo." Naruto said, hesitant to say the amount in front of a shopkeeper. (9,000 US Dollars)

"NINETY THOUSAND?! Naruto, what do you mean, not a lot? 90,000 is equal to the pay of a high c-rank or low B-rank mission for a fully-fledged ninja! 90,000 is enough to buy you a full set of really nice gear and even that would still leave you with plenty to spare!" Tenten yelled out in surprise.

Naruto's eyes widened at that. "WHAT?! Damn. I knew those bastards were overcharging me, but I didn't know it was that bad." Naruto said, almost completely forgetting that other people were even in the room. "I just saved up a lot of money overtime because people won't sell to me nowadays for any good prices ya know!"

When he heard that, Kadan stood up and walked over to Naruto. He put his hand on Naruto's right shoulder. "Naruto, what do you mean when you say people overcharge you?"

"Huh? I mean the shopkeepers in the village of course. All of the places that let me in overcharge me like crazy except for Ichiraku's."

Tenten spoke up from behind her father. "Naruto, why would people overcharge you like that?"

"I don't know! It's been like that ever since I can remember."

Kadan straightened himself. His eyes were shadowed and solemn looking. "Tenten, can you get me my coat? I need to go put some fools in their place." He said seriously

Tenten did so immediately.

"Naruto, can you write down a list of places that you can remember that have overcharged you please?"

"Uhh, sure. That's easy." Naruto said simply.

"Oh? I thought you said that a lot of places overcharged you."

"Yeah. Literally everywhere except for Ichiraku's. I have literally tried every single shop. There's always at least one person with the power to raise the prices on me who wants to."

Kadan took a VERY deep breath, before yelling out to Tenten. "TENTEN! Get the pack of papers out from the third cabinet in my room! I have some little shits to destroy!" He said angrily. "Don't worry Naruto. Once I'm done, no one will ever overcharge you again. But just in case, just come here for any supplies you need. Ok?"

Naruto just nodded silently.

"Good." _'Damn these idiots. I won't let them lay one more finger on Minato's son.'_ He thought angrily once again.

Tenten came down the stairs with a large coat and a huge stack of papers half her height. "Is this it dad?"

"Yeah. Thanks kid. Hold down the fort while I'm gone. And give Naruto a 20% discount on everything he buys today. I'm not gonna let this bullshit stand any longer." And with that, he was out the door and the hunt was on.

"Uhh, Tenten? Not that I don't appreciate this or anything, but what is your dad going to do?"

Tenten looked at Naruto and smiled a little bit. "Dad is the leader of the merchant's guild. Any and all large transactions and business matters go through him. They have meetings every month to discuss things. The last one was two weeks ago, but he has the power to call a full meeting if he needs to. He also has the power to revoke people's merchant licenses, dish out punishments, and pretty much everything else you can think of that isn't bodily harm."

"He also has power over housing and that kind of stuff to an extent. Knowing him, he'll probably have a bank account set up for you by the end of the week with some insane amount of money in it based off of how much money people have extorted out of you, repairs for any damage to body or home, and then he'll probably quadruple that and call it a long-term interest over your entire life so far."

Naruto looked extremely grateful, but also kind of terrified at the same time. "Are you sure that's ok? I mean, he doesn't have to go that far for me."

"I don't know Naruto, but he seems dead set on doing this. Ichiraku's ramen is probably going to be the only business that gets out of this unscathed. Now, let's get you outfitted properly." Tenten said with a slight gleam in her eyes.

"O-ok. Where do we start?" Naruto said, still slightly confused by everything going on at once.

Tenten put her finger on her chin. "Well, we should probably look for a new outfit for you first. And before you say anything, no, you cannot keep the orange."

"WHAT?! Why not? Orange is a great color!" Naruto exclaimed.

Tenten just deadpanned. "Sure, when it's in small amounts, but even you have to agree that what you're wearing now is…..unsuited for ninja work at best."

"I mean, yeah. I guess so. Can I keep just a little though?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"No. You can wear orange when you wear civilian clothes, but not what you have now. At best, an orange t-shirt. But you can't have ANY orange on your ninja outfit." Tenten said quickly.

"Aww. Not even a little?"

"No. In fact, you're gonna get an outfit like mine. And you're going to like it." She said back immediately. Clearly there was no room for argument.

"Like yours? Do I have to wear pink too?" Naruto said genuinely curious.

"No of course not. As long as your color doesn't scream "Kill me" all the time, its fine. Probably something like blue." Tenten said. "Ah. Here we are, the clothing section." After a few minutes of measuring Naruto and going through the wide selection of clothes, she finally pulled out what she wanted.

She pulled out a collared shirt like hers, except this one was a light, yet still somewhat subdued blue, it had long sleeves as opposed to her sleeveless one, and the trim on the sleeve ends were a light purple instead of red. The bands connecting the shirt in the middle by buttons however were still a gold color. (Just look up Tenten's part 1 outfit for reference.)

Under it was a pair of very dark bluish-black ninja pants only going about ¾ of the way down to the ankle exactly like Tenten's as well.

Tenten opened up the shirt to reveal that it had a strong material of some kind that presumably kept the shirt being battle worthy. It also had some kind of seals on it as well.

"This shirt is reinforced with a strong but extremely flexible and comfortable material that we got a large shipment of from the land of iron a month ago. It's also lined with reinforcement seals so that it will hold together better and will protect you from outside forces, just like mine. The pants have the same stuff in it." Tenten said proudly.

Naruto was impressed to say the least. He had been expecting clothes, but not reinforced battle ready ones. "Cool. How much does that cost?"

"Hmm. Well the pants and the shirt together cost 10,000 ryo normally, but if you're getting a 20% discount that would be 8,000 together. But we still have to make sure that your weapons are good and you have what you want. Don't worry, we'll add all of it up at the end. I'm also throwing in five shirts and five pairs of pants with the same color for an extra 2,000. Don't argue." Tenten said assuring him.

"Really? 8,000? That's like, how much my normal outfit would cost." Naruto said disbelievingly.

Tenten's eyes almost flew out of her head. "WHAT?! That much for….that? That's insane. I'm glad that dad is going to deal with those idiots. Anyway, let's move onto general kunai and shuriken. Can I see what you have now?"

Naruto gave her his pouch.

"Huh. None of these are really in very good shape. Did you get them like this?"

Naruto nodded with realization. "Yeah. They've always been like that."

Tenten shook her head again. "Naruto, these aren't even properly balanced. You might have better luck throwing rocks at the enemy."

"Eh. I'm not really surprised anymore anyway." Tenten said as if she had already gotten used to it. On the inside, she was seething with rage, but she had to keep up appearances and help Naruto out.

She handed Naruto two sets of Kunai and shuriken each. "Those are high quality kunai and shuriken. Treat them well."

"Now, onto more specialized items. What kind of weapon do you think you'd like?"

"I don't really know. I never really thought about it." Naruto stated plainly.

"Hm. Well I guess we can just wait and see what kind of fighter you evolve into. If I remember correctly, you're pretty much a brawler type right?"

"Sort of, I'm learning a new type of taijutsu and ninjutsu right now, but until I get that down, I'm pretty much stuck with what I've got." Naruto said hesitantly. He wasn't sure if he should be telling people specifics yet, but Tenten was a good person, and she was trying to help him.

She didn't decide to pursue the topic more. Ninja had their secrets, even academy students. "Hm. Alright then. I guess that's all we can really do in terms of weaponry then. I guess the next step is medical supplies. Do you have one?" Tenten asked curiously.

Naruto shook his head. "Nah. I've never needed one. I heal fast."

Tenten sighed. "That's all well and good Naruto, but eventually you're going to have teammates that you might need to take care of. Don't worry. I'll give you the full medical kit package. It includes everything from bandages to herbs that you might need."

Tenten went walking through the aisles for a minute and came back out with a somewhat large metal box full of supplies. "Ok. Here's everything you'll need in that area. Next are your general survival packs. Rations, blankets, essentials, that type of thing. I don't suppose that you'll really be one for sneaking around, but like I said earlier, on a mission you can get assigned to anything and sometimes you'll get stuck with an unfavorable situation. It's always good to be prepared. I suppose I'll whip something up with everything you'll need and just charge you for the same price as one of the deluxe equipment packs."

About ten minutes later, Tenten appeared in front of Naruto with an absolutely huge sectioned off metal box. "Alright, here's everything that you'll need. This includes ten days of rations for a team of four, a crowbar, a waterskin, some cases for maps and scrolls, ink and a brush, two flasks of oil, some sheets of paper, sealing wax for envelopes, 50 feet of rope, a bedroll, a blanket, a disguise kit, a small bag of samples like sand and such, a book containing all different types of plants and animals, and finally a small knife." Tenten listed off the seemingly endless list of items in the box.

"And now we're finally done. With the 20% reduction, the Clothes are 8,000 ryo, the kunai and shuriken are 2,000, the medical kit package is 500, and finally the Naruto special deluxe equipment kit is 20,000. Your total amount is 30,500 ryo." Tenten said happily as she carried everything over to the counter.

"Uhhh. Tenten? That's all great, but how do you expect me to carry all of this? Especially on a mission?" Naruto asked with a confused face.

Tenten at least had the decency to blush a little. "Oh! Sorry Naruto. I forgot that most people don't use sealing scrolls like I do. Especially in the academy. Hold on, I'll show you."

"What's a sealing scroll?"

"A sealing scroll is a scroll that you can channel chakra into using the seal placed in the scroll as a catalyst to put things inside of it. The seal can actually be put anywhere, even on someone's skin, but most people just keep it to their scrolls. My entire fighting style lately has been centered on them ever since Guy-sensei showed me how. I seal my weapons in the scrolls to keep a ton of them at once, then I unseal them whenever I need to use one." Tenten explained as she took out a few scrolls and unrolled them, showing the blank seals in each of them.

"Watch. I can put this shuriken on top of the seal, channel the right amount of chakra into the scroll, and it will seal it." Just as she said it, the shuriken poofed out of existence with a cloud of chakra smoke.

"Here Naruto, you try one. Just channel a little bit into the seal."

As Naruto did so, the scroll promptly shredded itself after overloading with chakra.

"What the heck?! Naruto I said put a LITTLE bit of chakra into it. Not all of your chakra." Tenten exclaimed.

Naruto just looked confused once again. "What are you talking about? I barely put any into it. I swear."

Tenten sighed again. "OK then Naruto, whatever you say. I think we have some more durable scrolls in the back. Let me go get them.

After about a minute, Tenten came back with five scrolls in her hands. "Here, try this one Naruto." She said as she handed him one.

Naruto channeled as little chakra he could into the scroll, and was rewarded with a poof of smoke. When the smoke cleared, the shuriken was nowhere to be seen. "Yatta! I did it! So I can seal the boxes in these?" Naruto celebrated.

Tenten nodded. "Sure, you can seal pretty much anything in it that's a reasonable size. I'll let you have those for free, so don't worry about it. Now, time to pay Naruto."

He handed over the 30,500 ryo and sealed the boxes into a new scroll he had, as well as actually sealing the other four into it as well. He switched out his old kunai and shuriken for his new, shiny, and balanced ones. Finally, he picked up his new set of clothes.

"Uhh, Tenten, is there somewhere I can change into these?" Naruto asked.

"Sure, the changing room is in the back. You can leave your current clothes in there." She said smiling.

"Why? Wouldn't I need to take those with me?" Naruto honestly wondered.

"Of course not silly. I'm going to burn them. In my forge. Leave them Naruto." She said menacingly with a sweet smile at the same time.

"B-but, this is my only one left. I grew out of all my other ones and I don't have any others." Naruto said whimpering.

"Good. You can start your whole wardrobe over again. I can help you sometime." Clearly she wasn't taking no for an answer.

Naruto just slinked towards the back of the shop. "Yes ma'am."

"Naruto! Leave the sealing scrolls." She ordered him. He wasn't going to pull a fast one on her.

"Awww." Naruto put the sealing scrolls on the counter and left to change.

Two minutes later, Naruto came out in his new clothes.

 _'Damn. That actually looks pretty damn good on him.'_ Tenten thought before she could even register it.

Naruto was wearing his new light blue shirt with very short sleeves with a light purple trim around the edges of the sleeve ends, and three gold bands connecting the buttons on either side. He was also wearing his new bluish-black Ninja pants with his kunai pouch strapped on his right leg, and his shuriken pouch clipped on his hip level on the back. He still wore the same regulation ninja sandals of course.

Finally, the days of the orange monstrosity and goggles were gone! Naruto now had his hair free flow now so it wasn't restricted by his goggles anymore which caused his hair to cover his forehead a little more than usual. (Just look up Naruto without headband)

"Well Naruto, I have to say, you clean up pretty well. I like it." Tenten said with a smile.

Naruto just snorted back. "Of course you would. This is your style after all."

However, he didn't disagree. When he looked in the mirror after he finished, he actually looked pretty damn nice. In fact, he actually finished changing in one minute, and he spent the other admiring himself.

Then a thought came to him. "Hey Tenten, do you guys have books over installing piping and electrical wiring here?" Naruto asked all of a sudden.

"Hm? Oh sure, we have all sorts of books and manuals. Stay here." She once again whisked away into the back of the shop, and one minute later, came out with a stack of books ranging from simple to advanced plumbing and electrician work.

 _'Hm. I'm probably going to need the whole experience if I want to install a whole new system into an underground layer.'_

"I'll take all of them." Naruto stated cleanly.

Tenten almost did a double-take at that. "All of them? What for?"

"I'm…..kind of building an entire system into my place." Naruto said.

 _'Damn. How am I supposed to get out of this one? I should have just asked for a few for now!'_

"You don't have plumbing where you live? Actually, where DO you live?" She asked curiously.

 _'Well, it's going to get out eventually.'_

Naruto laughed nervously. "Hehe…an underground base. I already have the place itself, but it's from a really long time ago, so I'm just sort of renovating it ya know." He stated, hoping that maybe she would just brush it off.

"You found an underground base? Where? Can I see it? What was it for? How big is it?" Tenten just kept rapid-firing questions at him.

 _'I've come this far, might as well show her too.'_

"Yeah, it's off in one of the more forested areas near the center of Konoha. I guess I could bring you out there. It was for some kind of order from a really long time ago. And I suppose it's…really big? I don't know. It's the only underground base I've ever been in." He answered question after question.

Tenten's eyes widened to completely new proportions. "Really?! Let's go right now! I can just leave a note to dad! Maybe he could help with renovation! He knows how to do all that stuff, and he could help with the labor!"

Naruto faltered a little bit. "I mean, I suppose we could tell your dad too. If you think that it's safe. Wait...now?"

Tenten just smiled. "Yep! We can trust him! And of course now! The suspense is killing me!" At that, Tenten quickly wrote her dad a note saying this:

Hey dad! It's Tenten. I might not be back when you get home. I'm going over to Naruto's house to look at some piping work that needs to be done. I'll probably have dinner over there too, so don't worry about that!

-Tenten Higurashi (≧∇≦)/

Probably not the safest note to leave a single father with one daughter who just introduced a boy to said father but hey, cut Tenten some slack. She's 12!

"Alright Goldie, let's go!" Tenten yelled.

Naruto was shaken out of his trance. "Goldie?"

"Yep. That's what I'm calling you now. Deal with it. I practice with sharp pointy things on a daily basis." Tenten threatened.

Naruto just sighed and shook his head. "All right, just follow me."

And with that, the two children took to the skies at top speeds. Or…rooftops and trees if you want to be completely accurate.

* * *

 **20 minutes later, Outside the Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, 5:00**

"Ok. The hatch is right up ahead." Naruto said.

After a few more seconds of running, Naruto spotted the hatch. "There it is!"

Tenten was only confused. "Where? I don't see anything."

Naruto slowed down. "Stop. We're here."

"Goldie, there's nothing here. My eyes are the sharpest out of anyone in my graduating class aside from Neji, and I don't see anything." Tenten said, still confused.

Now Naruto was confused. "What do you mean? Its right here Tenten." He said, pointing at the hatch."

"Naruto, there's nothing there."

"Yeah there is. Watch." At that, Naruto opened the hatch, climbed in halfway, then stopped. "See? Right here."

From Tenten's perspective, Naruto had just sunk halfway into the ground and was still speaking to her. "N-Naruto! How are you doing that? You just sank into the ground! There's no hatch!" She said, completely baffled.

"Of course there is Tenten. Here, I'll get out, and you can get in first." Naruto climbed out of the hatch, let it close itself, and gestured to the area where the hatch was.

Tenten felt around in the grass but didn't feel anything at all. "Naruto, there's nothing there."

From Naruto's perspective, Tenten was passing her hand right through the handle as if it weren't even there. Now it was his turn to freak out. "T-Tenten! Your hand is going straight through the handle! Step back." And so she did.

Naruto reached forward, grabbed the handle, slowly opened it, and gestured to Tenten. "Put your hand right here, and climb down like it's a ladder." He said, indicating where to put her hands and feet.

Tenten did what he said, and surprisingly, her hands and feet did indeed sink into the ground. As she climbed down a little bit more, her head submerged in the ground, but oddly enough, she could breathe. After about a foot of dirt, she was clear, and she could easily see that the entire ladder was now there and surprisingly, it was very well lit up. She continued to descend further down the ladder. Soon after she touched the floor and walked into the main chamber, Naruto did as well.

"See? I told you it was real." He said mockingly.

"B-but how? I was only able to touch it when you opened the hatch? What kind of jutsu is that?" She asked, looking around at the large room.

"I don't know. I didn't even know that other people couldn't see it until today. It was new for me as well." Naruto stated calmly.

After a minute of looking around, Tenten began to approach the main scroll. She was about to touch it when Naruto grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into the other corner of the room.

"Tenten. You can't touch that. You'll die." What? He had to get straight to the point.

Tenten looked shocked. "What do you mean Goldie? How would you know?"

"Because I opened it and read it. Anyone without a completely pure soul gets killed." He said seriously.

"Goldie, are you implying that I don't have a pure soul?" She asked, partially actually hurt.

"What? No. No! Of course not, but I can't take that chance. I read the scroll Tenten. It says that if there is even a little bit of bad intention in your soul, your true mind, the scroll kills you instantly. I can't let that happen to someone." Naruto said quickly, trying to get his point across.

"On second thought, maybe I don't want to read the scroll. But what is this place Goldie? You seem to know some stuff about it." Tenten curiously wondered.

Naruto decided to not beat around the bush. "Let's go to the library to discuss this."

* * *

 **The Library, the Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato**

"Holy shit. That's a lot of books. Goldie, what is this place?" Tenten thought out loud.

"This is the main library. It stretches even further than you'd think. Sit down, I'll tell you what I know." Naruto said, relieved to have gotten Tenten away from any life-threatening situations.

Once they had both sat down at a table, Naruto began to explain.

"I actually only found this place five days ago. I was late to the academy and I just kind of felt…..drawn to it in a way. I literally stumbled upon on it actually. When I got inside, the first thing I did was open the large scroll too. Long story short, it told me that because I was able to open the scroll and live through the soul probing thing that all of a sudden, I could read the light writing that's used in the scrolls that have stuff in it about the light style ninjutsu."

"It said that because I was able to open it, I was the "true child of light", which apparently just means that I have the right to learn the light style ninjutsu and taijutsu and do whatever I want with it. The scroll said that these chambers used to have some people called "The Order of Light" like 800 years ago. Basically it told me that the True Child of Light before me named Isamu died kinda early and so the Order couldn't protect itself from her enemies and got destroyed. There were some more specifics about how to use the light style ninjutsu basics by flowing your chakra through your soul and purifying it and stuff, but those aren't details you probably care about right now. Since then, I've been learning all sorts of stuff and I've been practicing with the Chakra Purification Process and the light style taijutsu."

 _'Should I tell her about the Uzumaki clan? I already told her basically everything else…..Hell, why not. I've basically already broken all of my other rules today, why not one more.'_

Before Tenten could speak, Naruto opened his mouth again. "Oh, and one last thing. When I was reading the taijutsu scroll, look at what I found." He rolled out the taijutsu scroll's first page and pointed the part that mentioned the Uzumaki clan.

Now Tenten spoke up. "What the hell? You're part of a clan? Then why does everyone overcharge you for stuff? And why aren't you in a big clan compound?" Tenten had a lot of questions, but now that was at the top of the list.

"It's because right as the second war started, the Uzumaki clan was destroyed by Kumo, Kiri, Iwa, and lots of smaller villages who were afraid of the Uzumaki clan's sealing powers. No one told me because apparently if people knew that I was the last Uzumaki, they would try to kidnap me to end my clan." Naruto explained.

Tenten's face softened instantly. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry Naruto. That can't be comfortable to talk about. I'm sorry I asked." She apologized.

Naruto shook his head. "No. It isn't your fault. But anyway, that isn't even the most surprising part. Look at who signed the first taijutsu scroll." Naruto unrolled the scroll a little bit more to show the name.

"Isamu…UZUMAKI?! Hold on. Are you telling me that he child of light before you was in the same clan as you too!?" Tenten exclaimed loudly.

"Exactly. But that's all I know for now. You and I are the only ones who know about this base. Unfortunately, it's from 800 years ago, so it doesn't have any plumbing or electrical outlets." He hung his head in near-defeat.

Tenten pumped her fist up into the air. "That's alright Goldie! I'll help you out with your piping problem, and you become my training buddy. It'll be our secret little deal ok? And maybe my dad too."

Naruto looked up and grinned widely. Finally, he had someone he could share this with. It certainly took a load off of his chest.

"DEAL!"

 **Hello everyone! Thanks for reading my third chapter of The True Child of Light. I hope you liked the way I took this chapter. I have been planning this ever since I started thinking about this story, so I thought, hey, why don't I make almost an entire chapter dedicated to this?**

 **Honestly, I don't have much to say at the end here except for thank you for your outstanding support so far, and I hope that any new readers will consider reviewing, following, and/or smacking that favorite button. I will do my best to reply to all of you, please be patient. However, if you do want me to reply, you have to create an account. Don't just leave a guest review.**

 **Have a good week everyone! I may or may not get the fourth chapter out before next Monday. We'll see. Bye!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Little Things

**Author's Note:** Welcome back everyone! I present to you, the fourth chapter of The True Child of Light. Sorry for the delay. I had some major writer's block and so it took me much longer to write this chapter than before. Thank you to all of you who have reviewed, followed, and favorited this story.

 **Disclaimer:** Once upon a time, a boy was born on November 8th, 1974. This boy grew up and went on to write an extremely popular and successful manga series starting in 1999. This manga series ended up selling 220 million copies worldwide. The manga in question was called Naruto. What I'm trying to say is, Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the official release.

 **Important Note:** I actually only have one note this time. I should tell you all that in my story, academy students do get "summer break" of sorts. I use quotes because it is actually a winter break. However, this winter break is only the month of December for them in my story. Sorry if you don't have summer break and you think that I'm being too ethnocentric, but this is what I know. I know that where I live, we have a summer break. Sorry. Anyway, that means that there are 334 days in the academy's school year and their year starts on January 1st, then they take their final exam on November 30th. They of course still have weekends and stuff, but that is how long their overall school year is. I am using the 2018 calendar for this just because I feel like it. Fight me.

"Shut it teme." – Regular speech

 _'Baka!'_ – Internal thoughts

 _:Shannaro!:_ – Inner Sakura

 _-Random book mumbo jumbo stuff-_ –Books

 **"I swear I'm going to eat you brat."** – Bijuu talking

 ** _'Hmm. The kid isn't half bad.'_** – Bijuu thinking

 **"Katon: Goukakakyuu no Jutsu!"** (Fire release: Great Fireball Technique) – Jutsu

 **Chapter 4: The Little Things**

 **The Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, Sunday, 7** **th** **Day of the Academy Year.**

Naruto had woken up late at noon that day. It was understandable, he had been awake until 2 in the morning discussing plans for the chambers with Tenten. Well, they had actually only been talking until midnight. Then Tenten decided that she wanted to go back into the library to read anything that she could about metalworking and Bukijutsu from hundreds of years ago, and Naruto had to stay In there with her to make sure that she didn't stay in the chambers all night.

Admittedly, she didn't actually find many useful things, but she seemed glad to just learn about the differences in styles. Of course, that wasn't to say that there wasn't any gain whatsoever. There were a couple of metalworking practices that she said she might be able to combine with her own to improve. If she was able to incorporate lost arts into her work, she could not only improve her skills, but her pieces would become unique and therefore more valuable to potential customers.

Putting that aside, after he lazed around for a little while then took a shower and brushed his teeth, Naruto did his daily physical training for the day at about 1:00 PM. Afterwards, he didn't really know what to do. So now, Naruto was simply walking through the forested area around the chamber not really knowing what to do.

"Man, this is so boring. I could practice chakra purification, but I don't feel like sitting still for that long. I guess I could pull some pranks though, I haven't done any in over a week." Naruto spoke to himself with his hands behind his head.

With that, Naruto decided that a few pranks were long overdue for the people of Konoha.

'Well I suppose the responsibility falls on me. After all, if I don't brighten up this village, who will?' Naruto thought as he ran to a general store with a henge covering his real appearance. Naruto had thought of using henge to get into stores for his prank material about a year after the academy had gone over the henge. Although, he didn't use it for stores unless he had to for a prank. Why should he support them if they would overcharge him as soon as they found out who he was?

Naruto stocked up on all sorts of things for his pranks in about an hour, then set out on his new reign of terror.

That day, people throughout Konoha ran into plastic wrap when passing through doorways, accidentally triggered air horns when opening doors or sitting in chairs, restaurant owners found upside-down cups of water on their tables, icing was replaced with toothpaste and mayonnaise, and of course Naruto once again painted the Hokage summit just for the hell of it.

* * *

 **5 hours later, Ichiraku Ramen, Konohagakure no Sato**

Naruto could be heard talking between slurps of noodles at his favorite ramen shop.

"Air-horns- 200 ryo, plastic wrap- 50 ryo, toothpaste- 75 ryo, mayonnaise- 65 ryo, paint- 350 ryo. The looks on their faces- priceless. I swear, it never gets old." Naruto listed.

Ayame shook her head. "I swear Naruto, whenever you go silent with your pranks, it just comes back even harder than normal. Will they ever stop?"

Naruto tilted his head. "I mean, I guess I'll stop when I get Genin rank." He said simply.

"Well, I guess it's better than nothing." Ayame sighed.

Once Naruto had gone through eight bowls of ramen, he paid and headed home.

* * *

 **5 minutes later, The Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, 7:00 PM**

Naruto climbed down the hatch to the main chambers, he walked to his room and plopped down on his bed. "Hmmm. What should I do now? I'll just meditate for an hour before I sleep, so that's out of the question for now. I guess I could go to the library and find some cool ninja stuff."

With that, Naruto propped himself up on his bed, stood up, and started towards the library.

Once there, Naruto walked around until he knew what he wanted to look for. "Hmm. I guess I could look at some techniques for the future." Naruto mused.

After a few minutes of searching, Naruto found a scroll labeled "Beginner Light Ninjutsu Techniques" and took it from its spot.

"Alright. Let's see what I'll be working with." Naruto unrolled the scroll and took a look. There were two different sections, Light manipulation and light creation. He went ahead and looked at the light manipulation section first.

 _ **-Color Manipulation-**_

 _The color manipulation jutsu is performed by raising or lowering the wavelength of the photons of light that you are manipulating in nanometers. One nanometer is a billionth of a meter. To explain the basics of light, it is a wave which gets closer together or farther apart as the wavelength decreases or increases, and as the wavelength decreases, the frequency increases, and vice-versa. The visible spectrum of light varies on a scale of 400-700 nanometers. For example, violet light has a wavelength of about 400 nanometers, indigo light has a wavelength of about 445, blue light has a wavelength of about 475, green light has a wavelength of about 510, yellow light has a wavelength of about 570, orange light has a wavelength of about 590, and finally red light has a wavelength of about 650 nanometers._

 _WARNING: Use this technique carefully. Increasing the frequency of the wavelength below 400 nanometers will cause the creation of light called ultraviolet rays, Gamma rays, and X-rays. All of these are extremely harmful and if used improperly, could be used to expose people to more amounts of radiation than the body is meant to withstand. On the other hand, decreasing the frequency of the wavelength above 700 nanometers will create waves called infrared waves, microwaves, and radio waves._

 _ **-Perception Offset-**_

 _Perception offsetting is the most basic form of light manipulation. The basis is essentially the act of bending, shaping, and refracting the light around an object or person to make it look as if they are in a different place. At first, it is recommended that you begin by attempting to shift the view of an item a few millimeters or centimeters in one direction._

 _ **-Perception Blocking-**_

 _Perception blocking is a step above perception offsetting in the sense that instead of making yourself or an object appear to be in another place, you refract the light around yourself or an object to make it appear to be non-existent. New practitioners of this technique will not be able to make themselves completely unnoticeable to the trained eye, but they will be able to fool civilians and low level ninja._

 _ **-Mirage-**_

 _Instead of changing an already existing entity, you bend existing light to your will to make it appear as if a non-existent object exists. Usually, color manipulation is used in conjunction with this to create much more realistic illusions._

 _Naruto was honestly confused about most of the science based parts of the descriptions, but he understood the concept of the techniques. "Damn. That's some crazy stuff. I guess even the basics of this are big. Next is light creation." The light manipulation section in the basics scroll only had two techniques._

 _ **-Light Ball-**_

 _Simply mold and compact your light chakra into a ball in your hand and maintain it so that it can continually radiate light from it while staying in a basic shape._

 _ **-Light Beam-**_

 _Focus and compress a mass of light chakra on and in front of the chakra points on your hands, then once the mass of chakra is compressed enough, allow it to escape through a small point in whatever direction you wish for the beam to be directed at and maintain the chakra flow for the required length of time._

 _Note: In later scrolls, it will be described how to change this technique into an offensive jutsu used for combat._

"Geez, I'm gonna have a ton of work on my hands once I master Chakra Purification. But I'll master all of these and more, or my name isn't Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto exclaimed to no one in particular.

For the rest of that night until 10:00 PM, Naruto meditated as well as he could to try to master his Chakra Purification Technique so that he could move onto the actual jutsu.

* * *

 **Outside the Higurashi Residence, Konohagakure no Sato, Monday, 3:30 PM**

After the academy let out, Naruto immediately started walking towards Tenten's house. She had said to come by today to talk to her dad about the Chambers. Naruto was still a little shaky on the idea of telling him, but Tenten seemed to believe that he could be trusted with the information, so Naruto did too. Mostly.

Naruto walked in the front door and saw Tenten and her father sitting at the round table in the middle of the room. "Yo! I came like you asked." Naruto stated bluntly.

Tenten looked up from their conversation. "Oh hey Goldie! Take a seat." She said happily.

Naruto took the nearest seat and waited.

Tenten's father spoke up first. "So, Tenten told me that you have some piping work that needs to be done?" He would have questioned why Naruto didn't hire someone who did that kind of work on a daily basis, but he decided that it was probably because no one would probably accept.

Naruto decided to once again get to the heart of the situation. "Yeah. I found an old base and I'm living there now, but it's from a really long time ago and it doesn't have plumbing or electricity."

Kadan raised an eyebrow at this. The kid found a base? "Uhhh, alright then. Can I see this base?"

Naruto smiled widely. "Sure thing. Follow me!"

And with that, the three ran out of the store. Kadan flipped their sign to say that they were closed.

* * *

 **20 minutes later, Outside the Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, Kadan's POV**

Naruto and Tenten stopped in a small spot in the forest, which confused Tenten's father, but he stopped as well nonetheless. The two children looked at each other as if they shared a funny joke.

Naruto moved forward and pushed the hatch down with his foot, then started climbing down. Tenten followed quickly, not wanting to lose track of where the ladder was exactly. To Tenten's dad, this looked absolutely insane. He watched as the two children disappeared under the ground.

"T-Tenten?! Where are you?!" He yelled as he felt around on the ground. Eventually, he felt a dip in the ground and grabbed onto a seemingly metal pole as his hand sank underground. He decided to take his chances and try to climb down the same way that the other two had. Surprisingly it actually worked, and he disappeared into the ground as well. Once his head lowered beneath the top layer, he could see that he was indeed standing on a metal ladder that went down a decent depth.

Then he heard Naruto yell from the bottom. "Could you close the hatch too? Just push it up and when you hear it lock, you'll know that it sealed!"

Kadan climbed to the bottom with a bewildered look on his face. He had seen a lot of strange things in his life, but an eleven year old having access to a secret base that was somehow completely hidden to the naked eye took the cake.

"Kid, what kind of jutsu is that? I've never seen one like that." He said, still looking around the main chamber in awe.

"I don't know. I didn't even know that there WAS a jutsu until Tenten came over here." Naruto shrugged. "Oh, and don't open the big scroll. You'll die ya know." Naruto recited flatly.

Tenten's father deadpanned. "Uhh…alright then. Take me to…..whatever you're taking me to."

Naruto nodded and motioned to follow him. "Come on, the blueprints to this place are in the library."

'This place has a library? That's a new one.' He thought silently.

Once they got there, suffice it to say that he was surprised. Very surprised.

"This is your library? Damn, this is bigger than the Konoha public library." He said, still amazed.

Naruto smirked. "Oh you haven't seen anything yet. There are way more rooms than this."

'There's more? Well damn. I saw a lot of things during my time as a ninja, but this one damn near takes the cake.'

Naruto took them over to a table that had all sorts of blueprints and plans for the Chambers strewn throughout from when he had been going over them with Tenten before. "This is all the stuff that Tenten said you'd need to figure stuff out. If you need anymore, there are signs and guides all over the place in here.

From what Kadan could tell, this was a really big place. Fortunately, he would probably only have to send piping through to a few rooms throughout the whole place to make it work for Naruto and a few visitors at most.

"Alright kid. I guess I need to start looking at these some and mapping out what I need to do. I'll also need to actually walk around here. Is that alright?" He asked.

"Sure. I haven't really touched most of it too much, so I don't really care." Naruto stated.

"Alright then. I guess I'll have to check if there are any structural integrity problems in the walls and ceilings then. After so long of just sitting here, I imagine there are some problems." Kadan said, still looking at the blueprints.

Naruto shrugged. "Alright. I think it'll be fine though. The scroll said that there are preservation seals all over the place though, and apparently those are supposed to keep things how they were when they were placed."

'Preservation seals? Well that certainly helps a lot in the long run.' He thought to himself.

"Hey kid, is it alright if I take some of these scrolls with me to study and plan? I still have a shop to run after all." He asked.

"Hmm. Sure, just make sure that they stay in good shape." Naruto requested.

And with that, Tenten's dad began his inspection and the renovations began.

* * *

 **~Yay! Finally a Time-skip~**

* * *

 **2 Months Later, the Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, March 5** **th** **, 64** **th** **Day of the Academy Year, 6:00 AM**

Naruto woke up groggily and yawned. It had been a little over two months since Naruto had found the chambers, and everything had been going fairly well. A couple of days after he looked at the beginner's light ninjutsu scroll, he fully mastered the Chakra Purification Technique. After that, he set off on trying to learn and master as many light ninjutsu as he could.

At this point he had mastered the Perception Offset jutsu, Perception Blocking jutsu, the Mirage jutsu, and the Light Ball Jutsu. In addition he had started learning color manipulation and the Light Beam jutsu, but he hadn't mastered them yet. He could manipulate the color of small to medium sized objects with a few colors, but he still couldn't manage to manipulate fine objects, large objects, or objects with lots of colors. If he concentrated really hard though, he could manipulate large surfaces or even multiple objects at once.

The Light Beam jutsu was coming along well, but he still needed that final push to master it. With both jutsu, he had the problem of fine control over his chakra. When he finally thought to look back at the scrolls for help a few days ago, they just said to check chakra control scrolls, and with the workload he had, he was only able to take a quick glance at them.

As he began to learn more and more about the light style, he really had to begin juggling his academy work and his training. Naruto had still been going to train with the Inuzuka clan as often as he could while still finding room for everything else of course. Between the Inuzuka clan training and his own taijutsu workout. He'd been pretty worn out, but that didn't mean he could give up.

In fact, he'd recently increased his daily training. Every day he was now taking a 25 mile run, performed 1000 log kicks, 500 squats, 500 push-ups, and 500 curl-ups. Naruto had also increased his leg and arm weights to about 100 pounds each.

When Naruto took off his weights, he could certainly feel the difference in his movement. He was by far much faster, stronger, and more flexible than he had ever experienced before. Although, the scroll said that once he got to 100 on each, he should just start adjusting them as he got stronger. Naruto figured that now was probably a pretty good time to do so.

After taking a shower, he took his weights from the floor next to his bed and pumped a little bit more chakra into them until he felt like they were even, then took them over to the scale in the corner of his room to individually weigh and adjust them perfectly. He realized the importance of doing this when he upped the weights to 50 each. A few days later, he found that his right side of his body was much sorer than his left side. When he checked the weights, he found that his right side weights were more than 10 pounds more than the left side.

Naruto took a minute to adjust each weight until they were all at an even 150 pounds each. When he strapped them back on and tried to walk, he noticed a fairly significant change in ease of walking. It made sense though. After all, he had just added 200 pounds overall to his body weight.

"D-Damn. This is insane. Who the hell thought that this was a good idea?" Naruto grumbled intensely as he slowly walked towards his closet to get ready for the day.

Once he finally got dressed with some difficulty, Naruto lumbered out towards the hatch in the main chamber. He would need to practice for a little bit to start getting used to the new 200 pounds if he wanted to remain inconspicuous. So far, he had managed to keep his weights a secret from everyone except for Tenten, Tenten's dad, and Tsume.

He had told Tenten and her dad openly, but Tsume noticed them during a sparring match and asked him about it. He had tried to dodge the question by just saying that he just kicked hard, but she was too smart for that. Eventually, Naruto gave in and told her that he had started using weight seals to improve. Thankfully she bought it and Naruto got away with only giving the base information.

Today, Naruto decided to perform his daily workout early so that he could get a feel for the added weight. As he was running, he saw two people wearing green jumpsuits running ahead of him. One of them looked strangely familiar. Actually, they both looked familiar, one of them just looked like a bigger version of the most familiar one. Looking harder, he noticed that the person in question was Lee.

Lee was in the academy with Naruto the previous year. He was also on Tenten's Genin team, or so Tenten had told him. Lee could never use ninjutsu or Genjutsu in the academy, and Tenten told him that he had been specially training under their sensei to become a taijutsu specialist. Apparently, Lee had started using training weights about a month before he did.

Naruto decided to call out to lee and his sensei. "Hey Lee! Long time no see!" Naruto yelled loudly, which a lot of people probably didn't appreciate seeing as it was 6:30 in the morning.

Lee and his sensei turned around while still running and looked over at Naruto. Lee's eyes widened and he waved to Naruto. Naruto saw him ask his sensei something, then they both slowed down for a few seconds to let Naruto catch up. Now they were only a couple of feet apart.

Regardless of that fact, Lee still spoke in an abnormally loud tone that could basically be categorized as yelling. "Hello Naruto-san! Tenten has told us that you two had gotten in touch again, but we never got the chance to personally meet again! Are you training as well?"

Naruto might have winced at the volume if Tenten hadn't warned him of Lee's newfound loud voice. "Hey Lee. Yeah Tenten and I met up by chance a couple of months ago. I've been doing weight training just like you for a little over two months now." Naruto answered.

Lee beamed at Naruto's statement. He seemed fairly happy to know that there was someone else near his age taking up the same training style. "I see! I am very happy to hear that Naruto-san! If I may ask, what weight are you at with your weights as of now? And how many do you wear?" Lee exclaimed eagerly.

"I have four weights right now, one on each leg and arm. I just upped the weight to 150 pounds today. How about you?" Naruto asked while keeping pace with Lee and his sensei.

"I currently have one weight on each leg! Each weight is 350 pounds as of last week!"

Lee's sensei decided to cut in. "I am glad to meet a friend of Lee whose youth burns as brightly as yours Naruto-san! I am Might Guy, but you may refer to me as Guy-sensei!" Guy exclaimed even louder than Lee.

Naruto nodded. "Nice to meet you too guy-sensei. Lee and I were good friends in the academy. We were the only two people in the class who couldn't perform the clone jutsu, so we kinda came together." Naruto stated somewhat carelessly.

Although, Lee didn't seem insulted or down about the statement. "Very true Naruto-san! Two failures came together as friends, but we will both advance to great things through perseverance and hard work! Isn't that right Guy-sensei?"

Guy smiled widely. "Quite right Lee! Through enough hard work and the will to continue, anything is possible!" He exclaimed brightly.

At this point all three of the duo were smiling, and Naruto spoke up. "Hey Lee, how about we train together sometime? I heard from Tenten that you're becoming a taijutsu specialist. I'd like to see how my training matches up to yours."

Guy spoke again. "Of course Naruto-san! That sounds like a great proposition! In fact, after our mission today, Lee and I are going to have a training session. If you would like to join us, please come to training ground nine at 4:00 today!"

Naruto had scheduled to go train with Kiba again today, but he was sure that Kiba wouldn't mind if he changed plans a little bit. "Sure thing! I'll be there!" Naruto said happily.

"Very well, we will be waiting for you Naruto-san! This is the end of our run today, I bid you adieu until later!" With that, Guy and Lee split off towards training ground 9.

Naruto finished his run, then performed his the rest of his daily training, then headed towards the academy.

* * *

 **Class A-1, The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato, 7:55 AM**

Naruto jogged into the academy classroom just in time to sit down and get himself situated in the seat between Kiba and Sasuke once again. Over the past two months, the three had become much closer. Naruto and Kiba had certainly become close friends. Sasuke had at least decided that Naruto and Kiba were worth being around. He had even started treating them as something close to allies. It was a start at least.

Naruto shimmied in front of Kiba and sat down in his seat with a thump. It made sense, seeing as Naruto was a walking weight of 688 pounds at the moment. Something which Kiba noticed.

"Hey Naruto, why do you sound so heavy lately? Whenever you sit down, it's like you drop a fucking boulder on the seat." Kiba asked curiously.

Naruto started sweating a little bit. Kiba may have been his friend, but he was still trying to keep his new training a bit of a secret.

"Hehe. Well I've been training pretty hard in the mornings, so I guess I'm just so tired that I fall into my seat ya know." Naruto lied somewhat pathetically.

Luckily, Kiba seemed to buy this pretty well. However, he still pushed the subject. "Yeah man, but even later in the day, you're literally heavier. Remember that time I tried to pick you up and throw you during that spar last week? I could barely lift you, and I'm not weak by any means."

Now Naruto was really sweating. For some reason, he really didn't want to tell anyone about what he had.

Why?

He didn't have any real reason to keep the truth from Kiba. A stranger, sure. But Kiba was his good friend, he was sure he could trust him with his secrets.

Was it because other people were around? No, if that was the reason, he could have told Kiba a countless amount of times.

So why? Why did he keep it from him?

It wasn't like Kiba would do anything wrong with the information, or tell people.

'So why? Why won't I tell him?'

 **"Greed."** Said a dark, gravelly voice from seemingly nowhere.

Naruto stood up and looked around. "Who said that?" He said loudly.

Kiba put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Hey man, you ok? I asked you about the weight thing and you just spaced out. You were out of it for like, a whole minute. What's up?"

Naruto sat down, still looking nervous. "Ah, it's nothing. I just thought I heard someone say my name." He lied.

"Alright then man. As long as you're sure." Kiba said cautiously.

At that moment, Iruka and Mizuki walked in and interrupted the conversations of the students. Luckily, Naruto's outburst seemed to make Kiba forget about the whole weight deal. Naruto just tuned out Iruka talking as he got lost in his own thoughts.

'What the hell was that voice? It didn't even sound human. Greed? Why would they say greed? Who are they?' Naruto thought to himself in a panicking manner. Normally, this wouldn't have been much of a big deal to Naruto. However, it all seemed too conveniently timed to Naruto. The voice seemed to answer the questions he was thinking in his head. He would have to talk to Jiji about this.

Naruto wasn't a superstitious person by definition, but he definitely sensed something weird going on.

Throughout the rest of the day, Naruto somewhat jumpy. Kiba even tried to bring up the weight topic again, but Naruto just brushed it off and re-directed the discussion. Of course, Kiba didn't fail to notice this. However, he felt that if Naruto was consciously not answering the question, there was good reason for it.

Contrary to popular belief, Kiba wasn't an idiot in every category. Just the academic and a couple social ones. Growing up in a ninja clan and a very battle-oriented one at that, Kiba learned that a lot of people had secrets, and most of them didn't feel like sharing. So Kiba decided to drop the topic for the rest of the day.

* * *

 **Later that day, Hokage Tower, Konohagakure no Sato, 2:30 PM**

There were still 30 minutes until the Academy let out, but Naruto couldn't wait any longer. He needed to talk to Jiji about the voice. It unsettled him. Something about it just felt…..disturbing. He figured that the last 30 minutes of the day weren't as important as this, and snuck out to get this off of his chest.

Naruto walked up to the receptionist at the front desk. She was a brown-haired woman with green eyes. She was wearing a white dress with a red floral pattern on it. "Excuse me. I need to see Hokage-Jiji." He stated, trying to get his point across as fast as he could.

The woman sneered at Naruto. "The Hokage is too busy to be seen by a brat like you. Get out."

Naruto had enough troubles today. "Fuck that. I'll be telling him you said that." And with that, Naruto sprinted towards the Hokage's office.

The receptionist stood up and yelled. "HEY! Get back here you brat! I said Hokage-sama can't see you! He's in a meeting!"

"Fuck that! I don't care!" Naruto yelled back. This was way too important in his eyes for some idiotic receptionist to stop him.

Once he got there, Naruto opened the door to the Hokage's office and walked in.

Sitting at his desk was the Hokage as usual, however in front of him sat three people. One was an old man with grey hair and green glasses. He wore a sand-colored robe with a dark blue one underneath and a large white scarf…..neck cover….thing.

Next to him was an old woman who wore her grey hair in two buns on the middle of her head with a needle through them. She was wearing a dark grey robe with a grey one underneath with a dull orange band around her waist. She also wore a large white sash from her left shoulder to her right hip.

Last was a man with black hair, and a bandages covering his right eye and his whole forehead. He wore a white robe with a black one overtop of it. The black robe however didn't cover his left side of his torso. He also wore a light purple band around his waist and held a cane.

The Hokage spoke first. "Naruto. The Academy doesn't let out for another 30 minutes. What is the meaning of this?"

"I have to talk to you Jiji. It's important." Naruto said.

The woman stood up and spoke. "How dare you boy! This is a very important meeting that is being held here! You have no right to burst in here demanding the Hokage's attention!" She exclaimed.

The Hokage rose his hand and intervened. "Now now Koharu. I'm sure that Naruto has a perfectly good reason to be here. Besides, this was just a monthly advisory meeting. We were almost done anyway. You all may be dismissed."

The old man with the grey hair stood up now. "But Hokage-sama! We still have to discuss th-" He was cut off by the Hokage once again putting up his hand.

"That can wait for another time Homura, it is actually very important that I speak with Naruto about something else, so it is good that he is here now." The Hokage said, stopping the now named Homura.

The Hokage also turned to the final man. "Do you have anything to say Danzo?" He asked.

The man shook his head and stood up. "Of course not Hiruzen. I will be on my way." He said as he walked towards the door. When he reached Naruto, he spoke once again. "Hello Uzumaki-san. I am Danzo Shimura, nice to meet you."

Naruto calmed down a little bit. This guy was actually talking to him? Well he didn't seem so bad, if a little bit mysterious. "Uhhh, hey. I'm Naruto. Likewise." Naruto said, somewhat confused.

The Hokage spoke again in a serious tone. "Danzo."

The addressed man turned around. "Yes Hiruzen?"

"Goodbye Danzo."

If he was surprised by the subtle forcefulness of the Hokage, he didn't show it. "Farewell Hiruzen." He then walked out of the office and left out of sight. The other two soon did the same.

The Hokage sighed. "Very well Naruto, please close the door and sit."

Naruto closed the door quickly and sat down in the chair directly in front of the Hokage.

"Jiji, something weird happened today. This morning, before the bell rang. I heard a voice from nowhere." Naruto stated.

The elderly man visibly flinched at this. He covered it up well though. "A voice you say? What kind of voice? What did this voice say?"

"It was a deep, gravelly voice. It didn't sound human. It sounded…evil. It said…..it said Greed." Naruto answered hesitantly.

"I-I see. Do you know why it would say this Naruto?" The Hokage asked.

It was now or never. He was going to find out eventually.

"Well, a couple of months ago, I started using weight seals for training like the ones Lee uses. Today, I upped the weight so now its 600 pounds in total. When I sat down in my seat at the academy, Kiba asked me why I sounded so heavy. I….I wondered why I hadn't told him yet, why I didn't want to tell him. Then the voice said…..greed. It was like it was answering me. I didn't know what to do, so I came here." Naruto said cautiously.

The Hokage blanched. "Have you ever heard this voice before now Naruto?" He asked slowly.

"No."

A sigh of relief was heard. He could work with this. "Very well. Naruto, if you hear this voice again, please speak to me right away. Don't listen to anything that the voice says."

Naruto stood up. "Wait. Do you know what it is? Am I going insane? What's happening to me?" Naruto asked with a panicked tone.

'Damn. I should have thought of that. Of course he would think that. Actually, any sane person would jump to that conclusion fairly quickly. It isn't every day that one hears voices in their heads. How do I fix this?' The Hokage thought.

"No Naruto, you are not going insane." He said quickly.

"So you do know what it is? Why won't you tell me?! I deserve to know! I DESERVE MORE!" Naruto yelled.

The Hokage faltered at Naruto's words. It wasn't the volume, it was the pain in the young boy's voice. "I….I agree Naruto. You do deserve to know. How about this, I'll tell you what the voice is when you become a genin so long as you promise me that you will tell me if the voice ever speaks to you again. OK? Please Naruto. I only want the best for you." He compromised.

Naruto visibly calmed down from this, but he was still tense. He still wanted answers now. "Alright Jiji. I'll tell you if it happens again."

Another sigh of relief came from the man.

Naruto turned and walked towards the door. However, before he touched the handle, he turned back around. "Jiji…..how am I supposed to pass? I can't do the clone jutsu no matter how hard I try." Naruto said with much less confidence than normal.

"I see. I will think of something Naruto. For now, just keep up your end of the bargain." The Hokage requested.

"…..Alright Jiji. I'll trust you….By the way, your receptionist is an ass." With that, Naruto opened the door, walked out, and closed the door back again. Naruto certainly had a lot to think about that day.

* * *

 **Training Ground 9, Konohagakure no Sato, 3:50 PM**

By this point in the day, dark clouds were starting to form.

Naruto walked into the training ground with a face that clearly showed that he was in deep thought. Lee and Guy weren't there yet, so Naruto assumed that they would probably show up at the last minute from other training.

He just decided to sit in front of one of the training logs to wait for Guy and Lee to show up. Meanwhile, he mulled over the events of the day.

'What the hell is this thing inside of me? Why can't Jiji tell me? What the hell am I supposed to do until he does?' Naruto thought confusedly.

"AGH! WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO BE SO COMPLICATED?!" He yelled, now turning to anger. A few tears actually fell from his eyes onto the ground.

Now Naruto whispered. "Why is my life so complicated? Why am I so different?"

Guy ran into the clearing. "What seems to be the problem my young friend?"

Naruto turned his head up and looked at Guy with bloodshot eyes.

"Guy-sensei…" Naruto said quietly, rubbing the tears away to try not to look weak.

Guy approached him slowly with an outstretched hand. "Naruto-kun…. What is it? You can speak freely to me."

Naruto put his head down again. "I…I just don't know what to do anymore. Nothing makes sense. Right when I thought everything was going well for me just once, I find out that there's some…..thing inside of me, and Jiji won't even tell me what it is until I'm a genin. It isn't fair. I NEVER GOT TO HAVE A NORMAL FUCKING LIFE YA KNOW! I never got to have close friends before now, I never had parents, and no one ever explained anything to me. I'm lost Guy-sensei. I don't even know what's going on anymore. Why am I even alive?" By this point, it had started to rain hard very abruptly. There was even thunder that could be heard in the background. Almost as if the weather was responding to Naruto's pain and anger.

If Guy was shocked by this, he didn't show it. 'So that's what this is. What should I say? I cannot falter in front of Naruto-kun in his time of need.'

"I see. Naruto, I'm sure that Hokage-sama has only good intentions for you. I can tell that he truly cares about you." Guy said, sitting down next to Naruto.

Naruto sniffled. "I know…I know that. Of course I do. But why wouldn't he tell me before? Why won't he tell me now? Can't he trust me?" Naruto said with pain in his voice.

Guy wrapped his arm around Naruto. "Naruto-kun. Please understand that Hokage-sama has very good reasons for not telling you. You should be looking forward to graduating to genin this year so that you can find out."

"So do you know what it is?" Naruto asked, slightly calmed from before.

….."Indeed Naruto-kun. Please do not push me to tell you. Even if I wanted to, I cannot. Nor can anyone else. I am sorry that you have to go through this Naruto-kun. Please feel free to lean on me any time." Guy said softly, which was strange for the man. But hey, everyone had a different side to them.

Then, Lee's voice was heard from the forest. "Guy-Sensei! I have finished my laps! Is it time to train with Naruto-kun now?" He then saw Guy and Naruto as he ran quickly out into the clearing. "Ah! Naruto-kun is already here I see! I am looking forward to our training!"

Naruto didn't move, but Guy looked over at Lee and spoke. "Lee, please go run laps until I come to get you."

Lee nodded. "Very well Guy-sensei! But…..is Naruto-kun alright?" He said at a more normal tone this time.

"Go lee. I will find you later." Guy said forcefully.

Lee nodded once again and headed out towards where he was running before.

Naruto spoke with a slightly cracking voice. "You didn't have to do that Guy-sensei. I can just leave ya know."

"No Naruto-kun. I still wish to have you participate in our training if you are willing. I cannot turn away any student, no matter who they are. You always will have a place with my team, that's a promise. That promise may not be much, but I find that it's the little things in life that matter. It isn't your power, or status. It's the ties to your precious people that make life worth living. And please Naruto-kun…..don't say that you don't want to live. Live for your precious people. Live for yourself."

Naruto leaned into Guy's chest and cried. More accurately, he bawled like he hadn't done in a very long time. Naruto had stopped crying when he was six, he eventually just stopped outwardly showing his sadness to people, and he just kept it bottled up.

The pair stayed like this for almost ten minutes. When Naruto was calmed down a little bit, he spoke quietly. "Guy-sensei…..thanks. I've never really had anyone to lean on like this other than Jiji. I….I needed it. Sorry I got your jumpsuit wet."

Guy smiled. "Of course Naruto. I will always be able to stand by you when you need me. And don't worry, it will dry."

Naruto hugged closer to Guy and he embraced Naruto tighter in response. "Wipe your tears, and let us go retrieve Lee together. We have many things to do." Guy said, standing up and lifting up Naruto a little bit.

Naruto smiled lightly and pointed his face up. "Sounds good to me Guy-sensei."

The two walked off to find lee. Some rain wasn't going to stop them from training.

* * *

 **The Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, 9:00 PM**

Naruto hobbled into his bed, absolutely exhausted by Guy's training. Their heartfelt discussion didn't make Guy feel like taking it any easier on Naruto. If anything, it made him push Naruto harder.

Naruto pulled the covers over him and he promptly fell asleep, content with the proceedings of the day.

Unbeknownst to Naruto, a certain Nine-tailed fox was simmering in anger from the proceedings of the day. **"Dammit! I finally got that boy to a point of weakness, and that stupid green Jounin had to step in and ruin everything."**

Naruto dreamt of many things that night. He dreamt of his friends, the Hokage, Guy, Iruka, Teuchi and Ayame, and many other pleasant things. He dreamt of his most treasured memories with those precious people. The fox wasn't able to disturb Naruto that night. Not this time.

* * *

 **The Next Morning, the Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, March 6** **th** **, 65** **th** **Day of the Academy Year, 6:00 AM**

Naruto woke up actually feeling pretty good that morning. He felt oddly relaxed and comfortable laying in his bed for once. Regardless, it was still a school day which meant that Naruto had to once again get up and get ready for the day.

He rose up from his bed and got dressed before grabbing his gear and heading towards the library. Naruto wanted to do some research to see if he could branch out in his techniques in the future. During the taijutsu practice with Guy, it was pointed out to him that he needed to have variation in his taijutsu style so that he wasn't too predictable.

Of course, Guy didn't know that Naruto was really only scratching the surface when it came to his current style, but his statements had a point. If someone were to figure out a trick to nullifying any style of Naruto's, regardless of if it's his taijutsu or his ninjutsu, he would be way too easy to defeat.

Once he got to the library, he headed straight towards the ninjutsu section. He didn't need to look for any taijutsu scrolls for now while he was still learning the light style taijutsu, so he figured that at least planning for something to add to his reserves later on would be a good idea.

Naruto walked slowly through the ninjutsu section to see if he could find anything that might suit his abilities. Collaboration Techniques were out of the question because he didn't have a partner that could actually collaborate with him, he wasn't looking to absorb people's chakra, fuinjutsu was apparently supposed to be really hard which was something that he would look into a little bit in the far future, Juinjutsu and Jujutsu were absolutely off the table, he knew that he couldn't ever perform medical ninjutsu, dojutsu was something that he would have known by now, and Kekkei mora were just…weird.

That only left Kekkei Genkai, which could only be found out through knowing your elemental affinity. He was pretty sure that he didn't have a Kekkei Genkai, but knowing his elemental affinity would be good.

Naruto found the basic scroll for elemental affinity training and removed it from the shelf it was on. He rolled it out on a nearby table and looked for anything that could help. Basically it just detailed the five main affinities which were fire, water, earth, wind, and lightning. It explained what each one was primarily used for, but that was pretty much it. However, the good part was that it came with a few small pieces of paper that it said was chakra paper.

Apparently it had been a newly developed product at the time that was made from chakra saturated trees. All it said to do was channel some chakra into a piece of the paper and depending on what happened, you would know your elemental affinity. You had fire if the paper ignites and turns to ash, you had wind if the paper splits in two, you had lightning if the paper wrinkles, you had earth if the paper turns to dirt and crumble away, and you had water if the paper became wet/damp. If you had two elements, it meant that you had a Kekkei Genkai resulting from a mixture of two affinities.

Naruto picked out one of the sheets of paper and channeled a little bit of chakra into it. The results were something that he wasn't expecting at all. He had been expecting fire like most of the ninja in Konoha had, but instead his paper split into two pieces, then turned into dirt and crumbled away. Both of them happened at the same rapid rate, which meant that he had a very strong affinity for both of them. Most likely neither of them took prominence over the other in terms of primary and secondary.

"What the hell? So I have wind AND earth? Doesn't that mean that I have a Kekkei Genkai or something? I guess I can search the Kekkei Genkai scrolls to see if anything is a combination of earth and wind."

Apparently, not much of anything was recorded as far as Kekkei Genkai went. There were a few written down, but most hadn't been cultivated at the time of the order.

Naruto sighed heavily. "Well I guess I know what I need to do." He grumbled. Naruto then put his hands together in a hand sign and performed the transformation jutsu to change into a boy roughly his height with green eyes and brown hair wearing a grey t-shirt and green cargo pants. He then made sure he had everything he needed for the day and set out towards Konoha's library.

* * *

 **5 Minutes Later, Konoha Library, Konohagakure no Sato, 7:00**

Naruto walked into the library with no problem from the librarians like he would have if he weren't transformed. He walked to the back section of the library and found a book listing different Kekkei Genkai. There were various combinations in the book, but nothing about Wind and Earth.

As far as Naruto knew, if you had two elements it had to mean that you had a Kekkei Genkai to speak of. Meaning that whatever Wind and Earth constituted, it hadn't been recorded in Konoha.

At least…..not publicly anyway. There was always a chance that whatever the two elements made up, it was so dangerous that it had to be hidden away in some restricted area. Of course, that was highly unlikely and the former was probably the reason in this case.

However, this scroll did have information that was more helpful to Naruto. An elemental Kekkei Genkai was utilized by combining the elemental chakra of the two elements inside of a person's body. In other words, he just needed to learn how to at least form the chakra for both wind and earth and he would be set to figure out his power.

Apparently the first step to training for wind was to cut a leaf in half between your hands by shaping your chakra into a blade-like cutting force, while the first step for earth was to form a spiked ball of chakra out of earth in one hand while still being able to morph and control it well through just…feeling the earth. The second steps for wind and earth were to split a waterfall with wind chakra and create a large plateau from the existing landscape with earth chakra.

In addition, it was apparently supposed to take at least a few years to complete the full training for one element.

'A few years?! I don't have that kind of time, even if I were to start now, it would take way too long! I swear I'll have at least one of these down in six months of training!' Naruto thought to himself with a determined look on his face.

He returned the book to its shelf and left the library. He certainly had a lot to work on if he wanted to make any noticeable changes to his arsenal by the time he was a genin. Before he even started on his elements, he wanted to master the light style a little bit more and master all of the basic jutsu listed in the first scroll. After all, he couldn't afford to spread himself too thin with training.

The day went as usual, Naruto trained with the Inuzuka clan afterwards then went home to read a little bit more about Kekkei Genkai and train, then he went to sleep.

 **A Few Weeks Later, The Academy, Konohagakure, March 30** **th** **, 89** **th** **Day of the Academy Year, 7:10 AM**

Naruto headed towards the academy early so that he could sit down and train. The good thing about training the color manipulation jutsu was that he could do it anywhere. All he had to do was choose a few objects to switch between and alter.

Until anyone arrived, Naruto manipulated the color of basic items like desktops, board erasers, and notebooks. However, when people arrived he would start to ease into more complicated things like subtly changing the color of people's shoes or shirts to confuse them, or messing with people's binders and subtly fluctuating the colors while they weren't looking.

Of course people would notice less nowadays, but they would still notice sometimes. However it didn't matter to Naruto, it wasn't like they could ever link it back to him.

Lately, he had even started to perform more complicated procedures like changing the color or some of someone's hair. Honestly, class was the time that he got the best kind of practice in with things like this. If he could perform the jutsu correctly without anyone ever noticing, he knew that he had mastered the jutsu. This actually pushed him to work even harder on his techniques during classes.

It wasn't like he paid any real attention to most of the lessons anyway. Honestly, for anything that wasn't ninjutsu theory or history, he was too far behind from years of being complacent with his work and most of the teachers sabotaging his education as much as they could.

Speaking of which, with all of the hard work that he had been doing with training, he had managed to work his way out of the dead last spot from before. However, due to his academic grades his rank was still suffering. He probably wouldn't be able to get higher than maybe the middle of the class unless he got a super good tutor to help him with the book smarts aspects of classes.

Naruto didn't care much about that though. Just so long as he graduated at the end of the year, he was content with the way things were at the moment.

We currently find Naruto changing the color of the swirl symbol on Mizuki's chunin vest to various different colors in front of everyone in the class. At one point, he even managed to make it switch quickly between colors in a rainbow order. Most of the class was trying their best to hold in their laughs, but most weren't doing very well.

Of course no one knew that it was Naruto's doing, so it was technically a success. Naruto paused the fluctuating color spiral to think about something. Many sighs of relief and disappointment were released throughout the room.

A devious grin spread across Naruto's face. 'It's time. Let the games begin. Mold the chakra…..concentrate….change the wavelength…..HA!'

The students of class A-1 were expecting many things at that moment. Something had been changing the colors of random items in the classroom for weeks now, and everyone had come to expect it. They all expected a clothing item to get changed, a notebook, or even someone's hair color.

However, no one in the room expected what happened next. One second, everything was normal. The next, the front wall was flashing rainbow colors along with Iruka and Mizuki's uniforms seemingly dyed bright pink.

The room erupted into laughter as the two chunin attempted to find the culprit of the color crime. Naruto didn't lay back and laugh with everyone because he still needed to concentrate a little bit, which made him a little bit suspicious. However, most people took this as him being miffed that he wasn't the one who pulled the prank and wrote him off.

Actually if it weren't Naruto, he would be laughing right along with them out of pure respect for whoever managed to pull something that awesome off.

Of course, none of that stopped Mizuki from rushing over to Naruto and punching him square in the jaw. Apparently Mizuki assumed that Naruto could be the only one who would do something of this scale and decided that he had dealt with enough pranks.

It certainly hurt Naruto, after all Mizuki punched as hard as he could. However, Naruto couldn't afford to let up the prank yet. If the colors went back to normal now, everyone would know that he had been the culprit the entire time and he would have to explain how he did it.

'Damn it! Concentrate! Concentrate! Hold it together Naruto! I can't let up now or this whole thing was for nothing!' Naruto thought as he recoiled from the strong punch. Naruto hit the ground hard, but still managed to hold the illusion together long enough to regain his concentration fully and get up from the ground.

Naruto put on a genuinely furious face. "What the hell Mizuki?! Are you insane?" He yelled angrily in the man's face.

Iruka also ran over to Mizuki and put him in a tight hold. "Mizuki! Get it together you idiot!"

"Shut up Iruka! I know that it's him! It has to be him! Let me kill it Iruka! I'll kill it for both of us and for Konoha! That thing killed your parents Iruka! He's lived for too lon- Mrmph mmmrpph mmmrrrmph!" Mizuki struggled to breathe as Iruka held his hand over Mizuki's mouth and nose until he passed out. By this point the colors had stopped, and were back to normal.

'Dammit Mizuki! What are we going to do now? After that, the students are going to be asking questions. I have to get Naruto out of here before anything can happen.' Iruka thought in a panicking manner.

An anbu with a cat mask body flickered into the room and picked up Mizuki then addressed Iruka. "I came as soon as I heard the commotion. I think it would be best for you to report to Hokage-sama. I believe you should also bring Uzumaki-kun as well." With that the anbu was gone, presumably going to take Mizuki to the T&I department.

Still somewhat pale, Iruka turned to the class and spoke. "I am going to go report to Hokage-sama about this. I need you all to stay here and study until I come back. Except for you Naruto, you need to come with me to talk to Hokage-sama."

Naruto just nodded and followed Iruka out the door. Loud conversation could be heard from inside the classroom even fairly far down the hallway. Clearly none of the students were going to do as Iruka said and study.

After a while of walking, Naruto spoke up. "Iruka-sensei…what did Mizuki mean when he said that I killed your parents?"

…

"You didn't kill my parents Naruto. Don't worry, this is all going to make sense soon."

Neither one of them talked the rest of the way to the Hokage's office.

When they arrived at the door, Iruka knocked lightly to signify that he was there.

A few seconds later, the Hokage's voice spoke out. "Enter."

Iruka slowly opened the door then he and Naruto walked in to face the Hokage.

"Report chunin Iruka. What exactly happened to cause Mizuki's sudden outburst?" The elderly man requested.

Iruka began his report. "Well as you know, someone has been performing some type of jutsu to change the color of objects in the classroom for a couple of weeks now. Today, the front wall and our chunin uniforms were changed abruptly. While I went around attempting to find the culprit, Mizuki rushed Naruto and punched him in the face. Apparently he was under the impression that Naruto was the culprit of the prank. I then held him back from doing any further physical harm. I thought I had everything handled, but then Mizuki began to yell that he knew it was Naruto. He then proceeded to say that he was going to kill Naruto for the both of us and for Konoha. Mizuki stated that….that Naruto killed my parents. I was then able to knock him out and an anbu showed up to take him away. That is all." He sighed, relieved to have finished explaining the situation.

Iruka looked over at Naruto with concern in his eyes.

After several seconds of silence, the Hokage talked once again. "I see. I apologize for Mizuki's behavior. I specially picked him for the role as your assistant because he was your childhood friend and I believed that he would be able to treat all of the students equally. Naruto, I assume you must have questions."

Naruto looked up and almost yelled. "Hell yeah I have questions! The guy just punched me out of nowhere and said that I killed Iruka-sensei's parents! He called me "it". Was…was he talking about whatever this thing inside of me is?" Naruto asked partially angry but also somewhat curious.

Iruka certainly looked surprised at Naruto's words. "Hold on. Hokage-sama, Naruto knows? What about the law? Who told him?!"

"No one told him directly Iruka. It spoke to him briefly a few weeks ago before classes. He came to me that day and asked me about it. I have not told him anything specific."

Iruka sighed in relief. However, Naruto only yelled in surprise.

"Hold on! Iruka-sensei knows about it too? And what law is he talking about?!" Naruto broke back into the conversation.

….

The Hokage folded his hands in front of himself before speaking directly to Naruto. "Yes Naruto-kun, Iruka knows. Every adult in the village knows about it, but there is a law in place stating that no one may speak of it except for you or I. I am sorry for not telling you sooner, but I did it all for your protection. Please understand."

"Everyone else knows but me?! Just what the hell is this thing inside of me Jiji?"

Iruka stepped in. "Naruto, please understand that Hokage-sama only did what was right for you." He said quickly, trying to make sure that Naruto didn't get the wrong idea about any of this.

The Hokage in question raised his hand. "Iruka, its fine. He has the right to question me. The deal was to tell him the night of his genin exam, but I suppose that this is as good of a time as any."

Iruka stepped back. "Very well Hokage-sama." He said with a bow.

"What is this thing? Why can no one talk about it? Why wouldn't you tell me?!" Naruto exclaimed.

…"Naruto. What I am about to tell you is an S-rank secret. I want to give you the chance to think about whether or not you want to hear this. Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Naruto answered back immediately.

*Sigh* "Very well. Naruto, do you remember what happened 11 years ago on October 10th?"

"The Kyuubi attacked Konoha and the Fourth killed it. What about….. Oh. The Kyuubi is inside of me? Is that it?" Naruto asked quietly as he hung his head.

"Exactly Naruto. Given the circumstances, you figured that out rather quickly. May I ask how you came to that conclusion?"

"Well it's kind of easy. I know that Iruka-sensei lost his parents on the night of the Kyuubi attack, he told me a couple of years ago when he took me out for ramen. The Kyuubi is the only big beast that I can think of that would make everyone hate me. Mizuki said that he was going to….kill me for Konoha. They think I'm the Kyuubi." Naruto explained.

"I see. I truly am sorry that you had to find out this way Naruto. You should know that you are not the Kyuubi by now. You should also be allowed to know what happened that night." The Hokage stated, his voice filled with sorry and grief.

A sigh was heard from Naruto. 'Ok. So I'm not that damn fox at least.'

The Hokage began his explanation. "Naruto, I'll cut right to the chase. A tailed beast like the Kyuubi cannot be killed, only sealed inside of something, or in this case…someone. The tailed beasts are simply extremely large chakra constructs made to look like certain animals and can only be dispersed for a few years before they re-form. The best way to ensure that they can be contained is within a seal bound to a person. Of course, the one through eight tailed beasts can be sealed within inanimate objects such as sealing jars. However, the Nine-tails is too powerful for something like that. A tailed beast needs to be bonded with a human's chakra system to be kept in check. These people are called Jinchuuriki. In the case of the nine-tailed fox, that Jinchuuriki is you Naruto."

Naruto stumbled backwards into the chair behind him. "This…..this is just a lot to take in all at once. I think I understand all of this. But…why did the fourth choose me? What made me so special?" Naruto asked disbelievingly.

Another sigh came from the Hokage. 'I wish I could truly tell you the reason Naruto. One day I will.' "You were an orphan as soon as you were born. Minato could not ask a parent to give up their own child. He saw potential in you even at birth, and so he chose you to be his legacy. Unfortunately the villagers didn't see it the same way, and chose to disrespect his wishes."

It wasn't a complete lie. Minato never could have asked another for their child, he did see potential in Naruto at birth, and Naruto was technically already his legacy. Naruto didn't know that, but being as close to the truth as possible seemed like the best possible choice right now.

Naruto's eyes widened. "The fourth….chose me as his legacy? He saw potential in me? I…...I can't believe it. It's what I've always wanted, but I don't know what to say ya know."

"You needn't say anything Naruto. I understand if you are angry at me for not telling you sooner Naruto. I will take whatever problems you have on my shoulders now. Just….please don't hate the fourth for what he did." The Hokage said with a sad tone. He thought that his relationship with Naruto was about to be shattered after all, but he couldn't allow Naruto to hate his own father.

Naruto looked up and…..stuttered? "O-of course not Jiji! I guess I understand what you had to do and what the fourth had to do. He was saving Konoha right? And you were just trying to help me. It would be stupid to be angry at you about something in the past. You're always going to be the same old man that I know, and don't you forget it."

Hiruzen was so happy that he could cry. In fact, he did shed a couple of tears. "I am so happy to hear that Naruto. I will always protect you from now on, I swear it. I'll make up for what you've had to endure these past 11 years."

The two embraced in a tight hug.

"Thanks Jiji. I'm still gonna be Hokage one day though, so watch out and get ready to hand over that hat old man."

Sarutobi laughed heartily. "Even after all this, you're still thinking about being hokage. I'm glad to see that your will of fire still burns strong."

"Sure thing Jiji." Naruto smiled and wrapped tighter.

When the two finally finished their embrace, The Hokage addressed Iruka. "Iruka, please return to your classroom and inform your students that Mizuki seemed to have undergone a recent mental breakdown and was acting out of hysteria and that he will not be returning to the classroom this year."

"Yes Hokage-sama." With that, Iruka body flickered out of the room to go speak to his class.

The Hokage spoke once again. "Well this was certainly an interesting talk, but I believe that you should go home to get some rest for now. I will come speak to you at your apartment tomorrow morning to check up on you."

"Alright Jiji. I'll see you later. Thanks for telling me all of this. It helps a lot to actually know what's going on for once." Naruto said, clearly happy with the results of the conversation.

'Good. I guess he forgot about the whole color prank thing.'

Before Naruto could walk fully out of the door, Hiruzen spoke again. "Oh, and Naruto? I will wish to know more about how you managed to pull off that prank today later. Good day."

"Uhh….see you Jiji!" Naruto said quickly as he bolted out of the door and headed home. Overall, today had been a good day.

 **Hey guys! Sorry for such a long break in between chapters. I had major writer's block and I had to take some of it really slowly to work it out. I honestly don't have much to say about this for now other than I hope you liked it!**

 **The polls for the summoning is still up. Please go back and read in-depth on other chapters about what I will NOT be using before you post your vote. Also please understand that I still will not be counting your vote if you don't log in. Anyone could review multiple times from different things under different titles and get their way. We can't do that.**

 **I actually have another thing that I want to ask you guys about. I believe that I will want to give Naruto a Kekkei Genkai that is a combination of his two elements (Earth and Wind) somewhere later down the line. My two big choices right now are either sand release or crystal release. Honestly, I am leaning towards crystal release a lot. I love it and it had so many already created techniques that it sets up really well to compliment what he already has. Anyway, please tell me in the reviews what you think that I should use, sand or crystal release? I honestly don't want to branch out past those two much for now because I feel like those two are the only ones that really capture the elements well and they both have a lot of established uses for each of them.**

 **Anyway, I will see you guys later! Please follow, favorite, and review if you enjoyed. Bye!**


	5. Chapter 5: Jutsu Time

**Author's Note:** Welcome back everyone! I present to you, the fifth chapter of The True Child of Light. Sorry for the delay once again. Writer's block is bad, but the only thing that stalls my writing more is just me being lazy. Thank you to all of you who have reviewed, followed, and favorited this story. Some of the reviews that you guys have left are really kind. I appreciate that. I have had some crazy real life stuff going on lately so I have had almost no time to write whatsoever and I haven't been able to get into it.

 **Disclaimer:** Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the official release.

 **Important Notes:**

• The summons and Naruto's Kekkei Genkai have now been decided. Thank you all for your participation in those votes.

• I'm still not going to count guest reviews in voting. Also please actually read my author's notes if you plan on voting. There were multiple people who didn't read everything properly and had large misconceptions about things.

• I got a review about Naruto's weights being way too much. Let me ask you guys something. Did you even watch Naruto? Is Naruto's weights being 600 pounds altogether really the most insane thing that you can think of? Kaguya is literally a goddess from space but 600 pounds on an 11 year old boy is really the biggest problem that you can see?

• I saw a guest review that said that I should just do toads as the summoning because "it would make more sense to get it from Jiraiya than for him to stumble on a random contract in a generic place." Do you really have so little faith in me? I would never just have him "Stumble on a random contract in a generic place."

• I actually had to change the date on the last day in the 4th chapter because I realized that according to the calendar that I am using, the 31st of March is a Saturday. So instead, I just changed it to the 30th of March which is a Friday.

• Someone told me that Crystal release should be earth, wind, and lightning because earth and wind is magnet release. That actually isn't true. It is fairly widely believed that earth and lightning is the combination for magnet release. Besides, it isn't officially confirmed so I can really do whatever I want.

Without further ado, I present to you the 5th chapter of The True Child of Light.

"Shut it teme." – Regular speech

 _'Baka!'_ – Internal thoughts

 _:Shannaro!:_ – Inner Sakura

 _-Random book mumbo jumbo stuff-_ –Books

 **"I swear I'm going to eat you brat."** – Bijuu talking

 ** _'Hmm. The kid isn't half bad.'_** – Bijuu thinking

 **"Katon: Goukakakyuu no Jutsu!"** (Fire release: Great Fireball Technique) – Jutsu

 **Chapter 5: Jutsu Time**

* * *

 **Naruto's Apartment, Konohagakure no Sato, Saturday, March 31** **st** **, 90** **th** **Day of the Academy Year, 10:00 AM**

Naruto was currently sitting in his apartment living room which he had moved a few pieces of furniture back into temporarily so that it didn't look so empty. "Jiji said that he'd be coming over to talk to me today. I wonder what he wants." Naruto wondered to himself.

A few minutes later, there was a gentle knock on the door.

"Coming!"

When Naruto opened the door, the figure of Hiruzen Sarutobi stood there waiting for Naruto.

"Hello Naruto. May I come in?" The Hokage asked respectfully.

"Sure thing old man! Come on in!" Naruto exclaimed happily. He was of course nervous about him noticing the lack of stuff in Naruto's apartment, but he had to put on a good show to make it convincing that nothing was up.

Hiruzen walked in and looked around, clearly noticing the lack of items in Naruto's apartment. "Thank you Naruto. I am wondering though, where is all of your furniture and other items?"

Hiruzen didn't see it because Naruto was faced away from him, but Naruto's face went white and he started sweating a little bit. "Hehe….I just wanted to clean before you came over and I got a little bit carried away."

Clearly Hiruzen noticed the lie, but he wouldn't push Naruto on the matter. With the recent events, he was in no place to pry. "I see. I am glad that you are taking initiative in keeping your housing clean. I haven't been here in a while, so it is a large change."

Naruto didn't really answer, he just sat down at the kitchen table and smiled. "So what did you want to talk to me about Jiji?" He asked genuinely curious.

"Well Naruto, remember when I said I would help you with your clone jutsu problem? I decided that today is the day I should fulfill that promise.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Yatta! How do I do it Jiji?"

Hold on Naruto, before I teach you the required technique, I would like to test a few things. If you will, please follow me to one of the Sarutobi training grounds. It is specifically reserved for me now as the Hokage, so it should be hidden from the public eye fairly well.

The two made their way out of the apartment as Hiruzen led Naruto towards the training grounds.

* * *

 **20 minutes later, Private Sarutobi Training Ground, Konohagakure no Sato**

"Alright Naruto, I would like you to start by channeling as much as much chakra as you can for me."

Naruto readied himself in a slightly crouched stance and began to channel chakra. After a few seconds, chakra was visibly flaring all around Naruto in numerous swirls.

"Very well Naruto, you may stop." The Hokage said in a somewhat surprised tone. Once Naruto had calmed down his chakra, Hiruzen spoke again. "Hmm. Well it seems my suspicions were correct. The reason that you can't perform the clone jutsu is because you simply have too much chakra. You have even more than me actually, so without immensely talented chakra control, you will never be able to form a proper clone."

Naruto clearly looked saddened at this. Did that mean that he couldn't pass? 'No, Jiji brought me here for a reason. He must have a way to let me pass.'

After several seconds of consideration, Hiruzen spoke. "Very well Naruto, since you are not able to perform a normal Clone jutsu, I will have to teach you a more chakra intensive version of the clone jutsu. It will still take some practice, but I'm sure that if you pull it off I can manage to pull some strings in the academy so that you can use it to substitute the normal clone jutsu."

Naruto's head raised from its droop. "Really Jiji? Awesome?! What am I learning?"

"Well Naruto, I would actually like to teach you two types of clone jutsu. However, before I do that I need you to channel some chakra into this piece of paper. It will tell us what your elemental affinity is." The Hokage stated, holding up a small piece of chakra paper.

Naruto's eyes lit up. He had already tested his! "Oh yeah I-" Naruto cut off as he realized that he probably shouldn't be revealing that he had already figured his out. "I saw a Jounin with one of those!" Naruto quickly lied.

Hiruzen handed Naruto the chakra paper. "I see. Well please channel your chakra into it.

Naruto took the paper and did as the Hokage said. Just like before, the paper split clean down the middle then both of the sides crumbled into a fine dust and blew away.

Hiruzen's eyes widened a little bit. "Amazing Naruto. It is already rare for even an experienced chunin to have two affinities, but on top of that you have two very rare ones at that. There is only one other person in all of Konoha with a wind affinity, and while earth is less rare in Konoha, it still isn't something that a majority of people have. Most ninja in Konoha have a fire affinity. My son is the only other wind user in Konoha to speak of."

He had slightly lied. There were actually two wind users in Konoha, but he wasn't going to prompt Naruto to find out more about Danzo.

Naruto of course already knew about his affinities, having researched them a bit since he found out about them. He still put on a decent act of looking surprised though. "Really Jiji? Doesn't having two affinities mean that you have a Kekkei Genkai?" Naruto asked, already knowing the answer.

"Indeed Naruto. However, I don't know what the combination of wind and earth would be. Wind is most common in Sunagakure, but even there it is not as abundant as fire affinities are here in Konoha. I'm not sure if anyone else has ever had wind and earth affinities before, so we wouldn't know what Kekkei Genkai it is without combining the two elemental chakras inside of your body."

Naruto slightly deflated. He was hoping that maybe Hiruzen would know something about his Kekkei Genkai.

The Hokage was still speaking though. "However, you have an advantage over other people with affinities. Having a Kekkei Genkai even further strengthens your affinities for the two elements. You should be able to complete leaf splitting and the spiked ball forming tasks much easier than other people. Of course, there are more stages that follow, but the first stage is all that you should need to find out what your Kekkei Genkai is. It is quite strange that your Kekkei Genkai did not manifest earlier in life. I suppose that it may have something to do with the large presence of the Nine-tails chakra inside of you taking dominance over other forms of chakra."

At this, Naruto perked up. He didn't realize that having a Kekkei Genkai would make it easier to learn the component elements. He also had thought that he would need to fully master both elements to discover his Kekkei Genkai. "Awesome! So what were those clone techniques you wanted to show me?"

Hiruzen stroked his chin. "Well, I was going to give you the clone jutsu based on your affinity, so I suppose I will teach you the rock clone jutsu since there is no clone jutsu for wind. The rock clone should be somewhat self-explanatory. Unfortunately it can only use earth jutsu, so if you want it to be effective in terms of ninjutsu, you're going to have to learn many other earth jutsu.

As for the second clone jutsu, I will be teaching you the shadow clone jutsu." The Hokage took a small break from talking to let the statement sink in. He then spoke once again after a few seconds.

"It allows you to create clones out of nothing but your chakra, so it is normally very chakra intensive. However, with your immense chakra reserves that are still expanding, you should have no problem with it. A large advantage of the shadow clone jutsu is that after the clone dispels, you gain its memories, which allows you to use it for reconnaissance."

Naruto was effectively captivated at this point. "I gain my clone's memories?! That's awesome ya know!"

"Indeed. I will explain both of the jutsu to you and make sure that you understand them well so that you can practice on your own as well."

Hiruzen performed the jutsu himself then went on to explain the hand signs and mechanics of both of the clone jutsu to Naruto before allowing him to try it for himself. Both went equally as well. The earth jutsu came naturally to Naruto because of his strong affinity, while the shadow clone was much easier than the clone jutsu because it was so chakra intensive. The Hokage was positive that with hard work, Naruto would be able to master both fairly quickly, giving him a very good chance of graduating at the end of the year.

When Hiruzen deemed Naruto ready to safely practice on his own, he told him that he could go home. Although he would love to keep helping Naruto, he was still the current Hokage, which meant that he didn't get a lot of time off. After all, the village didn't just run itself.

As Naruto ran away, Hiruzen called out to him. "Naruto! Promise me that you will not attempt to fuse your chakra natures until you finish the first stage of your training!"

"Yeah sure thing Jiji!"

* * *

 **A few hours later, The Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, Training Room**

Naruto had been training very, very hard for the past few hours. He had mastered the clone jutsu after a few hours of hard work, and now he was practicing his rock clones. Admittedly, he was actually starting to feel a serious drain on his chakra reserves after hours of practicing with such a chakra draining move like the Shadow Clones.

His rock clones were coming along rather well due to him having a strong affinity towards earth and already having practiced some with the spiked ball training. The good thing was that they weren't nearly as chakra intensive as the Shadow Clones, so he was able to rest a little bit more than before.

Naruto was still getting used to the feeling of upchucking a mass of chakra created rock from his throat. He no longer had any problems getting through the initial process, but it still felt somewhat uncomfortable. Apparently the feeling was supposed to go away eventually after he got good enough at the technique.

He was now able to perform the initial phase and the clone would form into a crude version of Naruto. The hair was too melded together, his features weren't nearly defined enough, and they couldn't withstand as much damage as they should have been able to. He was certainly on the right track though.

Once 6:00 PM rolled around, Naruto decided that he had done enough clone practice today, and so he stalked out of the chambers to get some Ichiraku's, came back, practiced a bit more, read up on a few topics that interested him, then went to sleep nice and early.

* * *

 **The Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, Sunday, April 1** **st** **, 91** **st** **Day of the Academy Year, 10:30 AM**

Naruto Woke up a bit later than usual because of his intense training the night before. Once he had equipped himself with his gear, he ventured out and performed his daily training before returning to the chambers for some reading up on light ninjutsu techniques to add to his arsenal. Now that he had mastered the more basic techniques, he was apparently ready to move on to more offensive moves.

Walking over to the light style section, Naruto picked out the book titled "Beginner Light Ninjutsu Techniques Volume 2" and opened it up.

 ** _-Beginner Light Ninjutsu Techniques Volume 2-_**

 _To begin learning the next set of Light Ninjutsu, you must have adequate control over the color manipulation, perception offset, perception blocking, mirage, light ball, and light beam jutsu. If you do not have mastery of these techniques, the next set may be dangerous due to their more offensive nature. If you do not meet these requirements, please do not read further._

 _The next set of ninjutsu includes the light shuriken jutsu, light bullet jutsu, and the offensive light beam jutsu. In addition, the light shuriken and light bullet jutsu also have a remote form allowing you to use natural light manipulation to form the jutsu from afar by mixing your purified chakra with the light around you._

 ** _-Light Shuriken Jutsu-_**

 _As opposed to the traditional star shaped shuriken that are commonly used, the light shuriken jutsu allows the user to make a more disc-like shape fly from the body at will. By forming your light chakra into a disk shape and rapidly rotating it around the disk shape to give it offensive properties, you can perform the light shuriken jutsu. This jutsu is extremely flexible due to being able to alter its size at will by simply using more chakra. It is also possible to coat this with different elemental properties such as fire, wind, and lightning chakra._

 ** _-Light Bullet Jutsu-_**

 _The light bullet jutsu is handled very similarly to the light shuriken jutsu, only instead of a varying disk shape, the user creates a small sharpened cylindrical shape that can be fired quickly at the enemy. The user can make as many as they wish as long as they have the sufficient chakra reserves._

There was a small note written under the text.

 _If you're a child of light, you can spam the hell out of these two. – Isamu Uzumaki_ o(≧▽≦)o

Naruto sweat dropped. "She was certainly…a person. What's her deal with drawing those faces at the end of her notes?" Regardless, he continued reading.

 ** _-Offensive Light Beam-_**

 _The offensive light beam has an extremely similar concept to the normal light beam. Focus and compress a mass of light chakra on and in front of the chakra points on your hands, then once the mass of chakra is compressed enough, allow it to escape through a small point in whatever direction you wish for the beam to be directed at and maintain the chakra flow for the required length of time. To make this jutsu offensive, the user needs to rapidly spin the chakra of the beam around the direction of the circumference of the attack in a drilling motion to give it a piercing effect. Alternatively the user can change the form of the beam to possess a thinner blade-like shape and instead of rapidly spinning the chakra around the beam, spin it around the edge of the beam._

After re-reading everything a couple more times to grasp the concept, Naruto snapped the book shut and put it back where it belonged. Once he mastered both clone jutsu that the hokage gave him, he was going to start working on the next light ninjutsu set, master the first stages of his elemental training, and maybe even try to learn some more wind and earth techniques. Then he could move on to finding out what his Kekkei Genkai was. Now that Naruto had a set goal in mind, it was time to get to work.

* * *

 **~~~~~ WOOOOO! Another big time-skip! ~~~~~**

* * *

 **6 Months Later, The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato, Monday, September 3** **rd** **, 246** **th** **Day of the Academy Year, 8:00 AM**

Over the past six months, Naruto had matured well. As suggested by his taijutsu scrolls, he grudgingly changed up his eating habits to get in better shape. This resulted in him growing to 5 feet tall and he was now 98 pounds. Most of the added weight was due to new muscle that was added on from his training.

Every day he was now taking a 50 mile run, performed 2000 log kicks, 1000 squats, 1000 push-ups, and 1000 curl-ups. Naruto had also increased his leg and arm weights to 300 pounds each. If there was one thing that Naruto could testify to, it was that lugging around 1200 pounds everywhere you went could get hard sometimes.

Of course, it wasn't just hard for him, it was hard for other people too. Hard and painful.

 **!**

 **FLASHBACK TIME**

 **!**

Class A-1 of the Academy was holding another tournament. There had been a three day weekend beforehand so Naruto had time to adjust to his increased weights. He now had 200 pounds on each arm and leg and was now officially the only 893 pound person at the academy.

Naruto had managed to fairly easily pass his way to the finals. Sasuke was absent that day for some psyche evaluation or something, so Naruto fought an extra match. The last match was him vs Kiba.

Iruka raised his right hand straight into the air and spoke. "Final match. Naruto Uzumaki vs Kiba Inuzuka. Are both fighters ready?"

Both of them nodded without looking away from each other's eyes.

"Very well. Begin!" Iruka threw his hand downwards and jumped away from the match. Fights between any combination of Naruto, Kiba, and Sasuke got somewhat destructive when ninjutsu was allowed. Especially once Naruto began learning more earth and wind style ninjutsu.

Kiba ran around and rushed towards Naruto's right side.

Naruto formed the needed handsigns to prepare for a jutsu and slammed his hands down on the ground. **"Doton: Doryūheki!"** (Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall)

A large uniform wall of earth quickly sprouted from the ground in front of Kiba and stopped him in his tracks. While this only slowed Kiba by a couple of seconds, it gave Naruto enough time to make his next move.

Naruto continued to channel chakra into the earth to change it into a fine sand to tunnel through. **'Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu'** (Earth style: Hiding like a mole technique) It was a technique that Naruto had only recently learned and hadn't shown to anyone yet.

Naruto quickly sank underground and began tunneling before the ground sealed back up and turned to normal.

Kiba ran around the earth wall only to find that his opponent was gone without a trace. He looked around frantically trying to locate where Naruto could be. Multiple people in the crowd wanted very badly to yell to Kiba where Naruto was, but after an incident a few weeks prior which caused Naruto to lose a match that he had in the bag, a rule was made that during matches informing a competitor of their opponent's strategy was illegal during sparring.

After a few seconds, Naruto popped out of the ground behind Kiba. Fortunately for Kiba, he noticed quickly which allowed him to turn and punch Naruto directly in the face. Unfortunately for Kiba, instead of punching Naruto, he punched a rock clone. Kiba would be the first one to say that punching a rock clone at full force hurts.

While Kiba was still reeling from the pain, Naruto once again popped out behind Kiba a little bit further away than before. This time however, Naruto channeled wind natured chakra in his hands and clapped them together. **"Fūton: Reppūshō!"** (Wind Style: Gale Palm)

A strong gust of wind flew towards Kiba and knocked him back against the earth wall. However, he managed to recover quickly enough to steady himself and run towards Naruto, weaving around the earth clone.

Kiba grappled Naruto and attempted to lift him up off the ground. The only problem was that Naruto weighed almost 900 pounds, which resulted in Kiba failing miserably and promptly dropping Naruto on himself. Guess what? That hurts.

"Ugggg. Naruto get off me. Why the hell are you so heavy? I told you that ramen does bad shit to your body. Iruka-sensei I give. Save me. Pleeeease." Kiba groaned painfully.

Iruka ran over and gave Naruto a nudge. To his surprise, Naruto actually was extremely heavy. Luckily though Naruto decided to roll over off of Kiba, at which Kiba sighed in relief before flinching heavily.

Iruka ran his hands over Kiba's chest. "Alright Kiba stay still. I think that you have a few broken ribs. Shino, can you take Kiba to the nurse?"

Shino nodded and picked up Kiba gently before walking towards the building.

"Uhh…Naruto wins by forfeit." Iruka said confusedly.

 **!**

 **~~~~~ Back to the present. ~~~~~**

 **!**

Naruto chuckled at the memory. Naruto had ended up having to tell Iruka and the Hokage about his weight seals afterward, but it didn't really matter much. After all, Lee and Guy already knew so it wasn't a problem.

Iruka walked into the classroom and stopped at the front of the class. "Everyone please be quiet!"

Once everyone stopped talking, Iruka spoke again. "Alright everyone. Today we're going to be doing another tournament. As you all know, the first tournament was a tie between Naruto, Sasuke, and Kiba, while the second tournament was won by Naruto. In a few months you will all be taking the genin exam a week after the fourth tournament, so you all still have some time to get ahead and win one for yourselves to raise your ranking."

The civilian kid named Hori raised his hand. "Iruka-sensei, can we just forfeit now? It's always just gonna be Naruto, Sasuke, and Kiba in the finals again. No one can beat them anymore. Kiba is too good at taijutsu, Sasuke is a prodigy, and Naruto is absurd in his own way. We can't even get close to him when he uses his ninjutsu, and he's way too fast and strong for anyone else to fight."

Ever since Naruto had really started to show his talent, more and more people had begun to respect him at least due to the fact that he could pummel them into the ground with no problem.

Iruka frowned. "Of course not Hori. The tournaments are used to help us determine where students are in terms of fighting ability as opposed to classwork. After all, since last year Naruto went from being the dead-last to the second highest in the class almost purely from his combat evaluations, and the tournaments have a much larger impact on your overall ranking. I should bring up that regardless of your outstanding grades in terms of classwork, your physical skills are extremely lacking, which is keeping you in the low end of the middle rankings."

Hori looked disappointed and lowered his head a little bit. "Yes sensei."

Iruka turned back to the rest of the class. "Now as I was saying, before we start the tournament today, we have the ninjutsu and bukijutsu tests today. Everyone will be expected to show their mastery of all their ninjutsu and bukijutsu today. Of course, if anyone wishes not to show certain ninjutsu in the case of them being clan secrets or anything similar, you don't have to. You won't get points taken off, but you won't get points either."

Iruka took a few seconds to let this sink in before leading the class out to the arena and training area to do the tests. "Alright everyone! We'll be starting with bukijutsu. Any usage of weapons is allowed, but everyone must show their skill in Shurikenjutsu. Everyone please form a row and we will call you up to present your skills to the class. You will each throw 10 shuriken and 10 kunai."

Apparently the teachers decided to start with civilians or people lower in the rankings. The civilian children did as well as expected. Most did average with a few slightly above average. The highest score from a civilian student was Hideki who got a 7/10 with Shuriken and a 6/10 with Kunai. Afterwards the clan heirs or students higher up in the rankings went.

First up was Shino. He threw in a rather stiff manner, but he managed to get a 9/10 with shuriken and a 7/10 with kunai.

Choji managed to get a clean 8/10 for shuriken and a 6/10 with kunai. Iruka told him to practice a bit more with kunai but other than that he was let off easily. It didn't really matter since his clan didn't actually use Shurikenjutsu often.

Ino managed well enough with a 7/10 with shuriken and an 8/10 with kunai. She may not have been very good at hand to hand combat, but she was still expected to be at least up to par due to her being a clan heir.

Shikamaru lazily threw with as little effort as possible, getting a 7/10 on both the shuriken and kunai, but enough to pass without dropping in rank any. As he walked away he muttered something about troublesome tests.

Next was Sasuke. Of course his fan club had cheered loudly when he stepped up, and even more so when he landed a 9/10 with shuriken and a perfect 10/10 with kunai, throwing two shuriken or kunai at once. He walked away with a smirk on his face. He would have gotten a 10/10 with shuriken if his last throw had hit about half an inch to the left.

Hinata proved to be rather skilled with a nice 8/10 with shuriken and a 9/10 with kunai.

Kiba stepped up and scored a fairly good 8/10 for both the shuriken and kunai throwing. He cheered loudly for himself as he walked off with a proud look.

Second to last was Sakura. She managed to score a 7/10 with shuriken and a 6/10 with kunai. Unlike Ino, she didn't have a clan to hold her to certain standards, so her skills weren't particularly polished aside from any attempts to impress Sasuke.

Last was Naruto. He jogged over to the throwing line and took out his shuriken and kunai. "Yosh! I'm gonna ace this!"

First he took his shuriken and threw two at a time like Sasuke, not wanting to be outdone.

Naruto landed a perfect 10/10 and hit in vital spots like Sasuke did with his kunai.

There were a few murmurs, but nothing outrageous. People were more or less used to Naruto being on par with Sasuke lately.

Next was the Kunai test. Naruto grabbed his set and threw two at a time once again. And once again, he scored a perfect 10/10.

Naruto smiled widely and pumped his fist in the air. "Yatta! Take that! I'm the best ya know!" Naruto exclaimed loudly. He may have improved a lot in terms of strength and even academics, but he was still mostly the same Naruto when he got excited.

People were certainly shocked. Naruto had been doing pretty well lately, but he had just scored two perfect scores. Iruka however just jotted down Naruto's scores with a proud smile on his face. "Very good Naruto! Two perfect scores is certainly something that you can be proud of."

Naruto beamed at the praise and got back into the row.

Iruka stepped forward once again and spoke. "Alright everyone! It's time for the ninjutsu section! As you should know from previous years, you are allowed to use the practice dummies as targets, aim at nothing, or in the case of jutsu such as the Nara or Yamanaka clan jutsu, you may use me as a target so long as it isn't harmful in any permanent way. Anyone who does not know any ninjutsu outside of the academy three, please step back from the group and form a row behind the spectator line next to me."

All of the civilian students stepped back. Of course, Naruto was considered a civilian but he knew otherwise, so he never really referred to himself as a civilian unless it was a direct conversation where someone might catch it.

Shino drained a little bit of Iruka's chakra, Kiba presented his passing fang jutsu, Hinata used a few Gentle Fist strikes to cut off the chakra flow to Iruka's hands then unsealed them, Ino and Shikamaru controlled Iruka with their respective jutsu, Choji expanded his arms and beat one of the practice dummies into the ground, and Sasuke showed off a few different utility jutsu then his great fireball jutsu.

Naruto once again stepped up to the arena to show off his skills. The class knew that he had a strangely large pool of ninjutsu, but he still had a few jutsu that the class hadn't seen yet.

Naruto readied himself. Over the past 6 months he had learned tons of different earth and wind style jutsu. Having such a strong affinity for both of them allowed him to learn much faster than expected.

"Alright! I'll start off with something simple."

 **"Rock Clone Jutsu!"** Naruto spit out a mass of rock that formed and solidified into the shape of Naruto.

"All right me! Use the hiding like a mole technique." Naruto addressed to himself.

On command, the rock clone nodded and put its hands to the ground.

 **"Hiding Like a Mole Jutsu!"**

The clone began to sink into the ground before digging for a few seconds and sprouting out behind Iruka.

Naruto dispelled the rock clone and moved on to the next jutsu.

 **"Earth Shelter Jutsu!"**

A small dome shelter with two spaces on either side formed around Naruto. After a few seconds, Naruto walked out and dispelled it to make it look as if it had never even been there.

Naruto picked up a medium sized rock from the ground and channeled chakra into it.

 **"Rock Section Cane Jutsu!"**

The rock morphed into a decently sized staff which Naruto proved to be able to use with at least decent skill. He had asked the hokage for some tips since he knew that the Sarutobi clan was famous for their usage of staves.

"All right! My last earth jutsu!" Naruto beamed, then slammed his hands down on the ground.

 **"Earth Wall Jutsu!"**

Like seen before, a large wall of earth sprouted from the ground in front of Naruto, then after about 20 seconds, it was dispelled.

Iruka was fairly impressed. Academy students rarely ever had ninjutsu of their own, much less that many earth ninjutsu. Naruto hadn't shown the class his Rock Cane jutsu or the Rock Shelter jutsu before.

"Yosh! Next are my Wind style jutsu!"

 **"Gale Palm Jutsu!"**

As the class had seen before, Naruto slammed his hands together and released a strong gust of wind.

The test dummy was shaken extremely violently, but was held in place by the rod holding it deep in the ground.

Not soon after, Naruto began to form handsigns again and this time released a gust of wind from his mouth.

 **"Great Breakthrough Jutsu!"**

Without fail, the two practice dummies in front of Naruto were torn from the ground and were flung violently into the forest behind them. Of course, the trees suffered some serious damage as well, one even slowly tipping over from the great force of the jutsu.

That was certainly something that the class hadn't seen before. Everyone's jaws were wide open. Well, everybody but Shino and Sasuke, but they don't count. Sasuke at least had extremely wide eyes.

Iruka spoke loudly. "Magnificent Naruto! To have mastered the great breakthrough jutsu so early is truly impressive! We may have another prodigy on our hands after all!"

Iruka was playing it up a bit to try to heighten Naruto's reputation, but he was essentially thinking the same as he said. It was certainly impressive to have learned such an advanced jutsu while still in the academy. Even more so having learned it along with other elemental jutsu. Naruto was certainly going to turn out to be a powerful Ninjutsu specialist.

"Yosh! Two more wind style jutsu to go!" Naruto exclaimed while jumping into the air due to Iruka's praise.

This also surprised the class. Before now, the only wind style jutsu that Naruto had shown was the gale palm, but now he was saying that he had four in total. Along with his earth style, his jutsu pool was up there with that of a low chunin.

Naruto performed the necessary handsigns and inhaled again.

 **"Vacuum Sphere Jutsu!"**

Naruto spit out multiple small projectiles of wind that absolutely tore straight through the practice dummy that Naruto was facing. If that wasn't enough, Naruto began the same jutsu again, but this time facing towards the forest.

 **"Vacuum Sphere Jutsu!"**

Naruto once again performed the jutsu, but this time instead of multiple small spheres, Naruto charged a large sphere of rapidly rotating wind and shot it at the trees. The first few trees were torn apart and flung a short distance away.

Once the jutsu died down, the shocked faces of the students and two teachers appeared again.

Just what the hell was Naruto?

"Awesome! Just one more left!"

Iruka sweatdropped a little bit at this. With all of the jutsu that Naruto was performing, even a high level genin or low chunin would be worn out by now, but Naruto was completely unaffected. 'I suppose the Kyuubi is useful every now and then.'

However, Iruka was concerned about something. 'Where is Naruto learning jutsu like this? Hokage-sama informed me that he taught Naruto the rock clone and shadow clones, but he never mentioned anything about giving Naruto instruction for a C-rank jutsu like the great breakthrough. Much less a B-rank like the vacuum sphere jutsu or the earth wall jutsu. I'll have to speak to Hokage-sama about this. I've only ever seen the wind style vacuum set in records.'

This time, Naruto grabbed a shuriken and a kunai from his pouch. Naruto held the shuriken on one finger and blew on it, adding wind natured chakra to it to increase its speed and lethality.

 **"Vacuum Blade Jutsu!"**

With that, Naruto threw the shuriken straight towards the already hole filled dummy and it was promptly sliced in half in an instant. This was impressive to say the least. The practice dummies were meant to replicate the human body as closely as possible, so it just showed that this jutsu was absolutely deadly if you got hit with it.

Naruto this time picked up his Kunai and blew wind chakra over it. The chakra elongated the blade with a wispy green aura. Naruto rushed towards the half of the dummy still stuck in the ground and vertically sliced it all the way through the post and into the ground before dispelling the jutsu.

Naruto put away his Kunai and Shuriken and laughed a little bit. "Heh heh. That's it for my wind style jutsu."

Iruka sweatdropped a little bit. Naruto was still so casual after releasing so many ninjutsu. "V-very well Naruto. Well now that everyone has shown their ninjutsu, we can move onto the tournament! "

Naruto lowered his arms to his side and walked back to the row with a proud smile on his face as many people including Iruka applauded for Naruto's demonstrations. The only real specific exception to this Sakura. Although a few others were hanging back.

"Very impressive Naruto! Your pool of jutsu is extremely impressive, it even surpasses some Chunin."

Naruto smiled gleefully and rubbed the back of his head. "Hehe. Of course! I'm just awesome like that."

Iruka smiled as well. Naruto really had grown this year. He had a more mature outlook sometimes, he changed his wardrobe drastically, and he improved more than anyone ever could have predicted.

After that, everyone prepared and stretched for the tournament. Many people even more scared of Naruto than before.

Honestly, most of the tournament was lackluster. Naruto, Sasuke, and Kiba ended up fighting once again. After a few minutes of a mix of taijutsu exchanges and a few ninjutsu, Kiba was knocked out of the ring by a gale palm from Naruto.

After that, Naruto and Sasuke fought in a mostly taijutsu battle. Sasuke did well to keep Naruto occupied with close combat so that he couldn't weave any hand signs, but Naruto was still able to throw in a gale palm and earth wall to break up Sasuke's fighting and allow Naruto to put Sasuke in a choke hold which made him be forced to forfeit.

Once the fighting was done, Iruka called out. "Naruto wins by ring out and forfeit! Good work everybody. The new rankings will be released tomorrow!"

With that, everybody picked themselves up and walked back into the building for the rest of the classes of the day.

* * *

 **Later that day, Hokage's Office, Konohagakure no Sato, 5:00 PM**

Hiruzen was finishing up a large stack of paperwork when he heard a knock at the door. "Enter."

The person on the other side of the door was his secretary. "I apologize for interrupting Hokage-sama. Chunin Iruka Umino is requesting to see you. He doesn't have an appointment so I thought that it would be best to inform you." She said with a slight bow of her head.

Hiruzen pondered momentarily. 'Hmm. Iruka only comes about a serious problem with the academy or something about Naruto.'

"Very well. Send him in." He eventually decided.

The secretary bowed and closed the door.

A couple of minutes later, another knock was heard on the door. "Enter."

Iruka opened the office door and took a step in before closing it again.

"I apologize for the sudden request Hokage-sama. I noticed something about Naruto today that you may wish to know about, a concern of sorts."

That was interesting to Hiruzen. Iruka had come to him about problems regarding Naruto before such as altercations with other students, but there had never been something that concerned him enough that was directly pertaining to Naruto that he would need an immediate audience.

"A concern you say? Continue." He said with a slight frown.

Iruka straightened up. "As you know, we held the full Shurikenjutsu and ninjutsu tests today. I told the students to show all of their ninjutsu. I was aware that Naruto had improved by leaps and bounds, but today he demonstrated an extremely large pool of ninjutsu even for an experienced genin. He presented five earth style jutsu and four wind style jutsu. He presented two C-rank and one B-rank earth jutsu along with 2 earth jutsu of unidentified ranks, most likely D or C ranks. He also showed his use of two C-rank and one B-rank wind jutsu along with 1 unidentified. I was wondering if you knew where Naruto obtained such jutsu. Three of his wind jutsu were jutsu that could easily cause physical harm to a person."

This came as a shock to Hiruzen. He knew from academy reports that Naruto had increased his pool of ninjutsu recently, presumably by finding such techniques in the library.

"I see. This is somewhat troubling. I don't know where he could have obtained so many C and B rank ninjutsu. I was suspicious when I heard that he had learned the earth wall jutsu, but to have learned so many more is a surprise. Do you know which jutsu that he used?"

Iruka handed Hiruzen a list of jutsu that Naruto called out.

After about a minute of looking over the list a few times and thinking, Hiruzen looked up. "Hmm. This is indeed a reason for investigation. I am particularly worried about two certain jutsu…"

Iruka nodded. "The Vacuum Blade and Vacuum Sphere jutsu, correct? I have only ever seen mention of the vacuum set in writing."

"Yes. I have only ever met one person in Konoha who knows the Vacuum jutsu…..Danzo. But where would Naruto have obtained them?"

Iruka looked somewhat surprised. "The former councilman Danzo?"

"Yes. Danzo invented the wind style vacuum jutsu. He has only taught a few select people, and they have all unfortunately perished. There are no existing scrolls detailing the set that I know of, which means that Danzo must have supplied Naruto with them."

Hiruzen frowned. 'Or possibly…..Danzo, you wouldn't. Would you?'

"I see. So does that mean that Danzo-sama is Naruto's tutor? With Naruto's recent rise in skill, it would make sense for someone to take him under their wing."

This only served to worsen Hiruzen's worry for Naruto. "Iruka, I need you to keep a close eye on Naruto. I will speak with him, but I don't know how much he will tell me. I will also speak to Danzo if need be, however Danzo has always been crafty and secretive, even with me. Keep me updated on Naruto's advancement in the academy. I wish to know if there are any new developments."

"Of course Hokage-sama. I will inform you of anything that Naruto reveals." Iruka said formally.

Before Iruka left, he asked one more question. "However, can't you simply use your crystal ball to watch where Naruto goes after the academy? I have seen you use it during meetings occasionally."

"Well that would certainly be a good suggestion if it were possible." Seeing Iruka's confused look, Hiruzen elaborated. "I can only use the crystal ball if the person I am watching has less chakra than me. About a year ago, Naruto's chakra reserves matched mine so I am unable to keep an eye on him. Please tell him to come to my office after school tomorrow."

Iruka faltered. 'Naruto has more chakra than Hokage-sama? Amazing.'

"Very well Hokage-sama. I will keep you posted. By the way, I think that you will be happy to know something."

Hiruzen tilted his head in question.

Iruka grinned a little bit. "As of today, Naruto Uzumaki has-"

* * *

 **The Next Day, The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato, Tuesday, September 4** **th** **, 248** **th** **Day of the Academy Year, 8:10 AM**

"As of today, Naruto Uzumaki has taken the spot for the top student in this year's graduating class. Congratulations Naruto."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" There was a collective shout heard across the entire room.

Iruka smiled. "Due to his outstanding performance yesterday in his tests and his win in the tournament, Naruto has moved from the #2 spot in ranking to the #1 spot."

There were a few shouts of outrage from some of Sasuke's most diehard fans, some cheered, a few despaired.

Kiba was among the group of people cheering for Naruto.

Sasuke was sitting silently brooding. Lately he had actually become more supportive of Naruto's accomplishments due to a development of camaraderie over the course of the school year, but it didn't mean that giving up his top spot was easy for him. He acknowledged Naruto's strength, but it still stung to know that he had been surpassed.

'Damn. How am I going to kill Itachi one day if I can't even be the best in the academy?'

Sasuke was broken out of his thoughts by a shout from Naruto. "Yatta! You're gonna have to work hard to beat me now Ya know!"

Sasuke turned his head and responded. "Hn."

Naruto's triumphant look faded and was replaced with a worried look. He grabbed onto Sasuke's shoulders and started shaking him. "No! Sasuke stay with me! Don't revert back to the way you once were! You're better than this! Don't let the Hn take you back! It's been two months since you've said that!"

Sasuke actually blushed a little bit at the ridiculousness of the scene. "N-Naruto! Let go of me!"

Naruto still didn't stop and actually started weeping slightly in mock despair. "Our friendship is stronger than this Sasuke! We can get through this together!"

'Oh god. When he gets like this the only thing that I can do is play along. Damn you Naruto, I'll get you for this one day.'

Ever since Naruto had started to get stronger, he had only become more eccentric, especially when he was messing with Sasuke. Apparently it was a big ninja legend that the more power and talent a ninja had, the more insane they acted. Some channeled this in different ways than others. For some like Guy and Lee, it was being extremely crazy about training, for some it was reading smut. For Naruto, he acted absolutely over the top silly every once and awhile. He had also obtained a large flair for the dramatic.

Also, being around Guy and Lee had created some more…interesting quirks.

"OK. OK Naruto! I won't fall prey to the Hn! Our friendship can withstand this I swear! I'm fine, so let me go!"

Naruto released his hold on Sasuke and wiped the tears from his eyes and gave a sigh of relief. The tears were actually because he was barely holding himself together from laughing, but no one else needed to know that.

"I'm so glad! I don't know how I could live without the you that I know! Thank you for reassuring me my forever friend!"

Sasuke palmed his face. "I swear, you're unbelievable Naruto."

Naruto lent in and whispered in Sasuke's ear. "I know. That's why you love me ya know."

Sasuke just sighed. He would never get how Naruto could keep this up all the time.

Iruka smiled at the silly sight. 'Yep, nothing suspicious about Naruto. We have no reason to worry.'

A cough was heard from the front of the room as Iruka got the student's attention. "Yes, well if you two are finished, we have classes to begin."

* * *

 **Later that day, The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato**

As the bell rang, students got up from their seats to go home. As Naruto stood up, Iruka called out to him.

"Naruto! Hokage-sama has requested that you come to his office. I believe he has something to ask you."

Naruto tilted his head. "Uhh, alright then. See ya later Iruka sensei!"

Naruto ran out of the room and headed straight towards the Hokage Tower.

About 10 minutes later Naruto arrived at the Hokage's office and walked right in. If the old man was expecting him, he should be free anyway.

Hiruzen looked up from some paperwork that he was in the midst of. "Ah Naruto. Thank you for coming. Please sit."

"What's this about Jiji? You wanna hear about the tournament?"

"No Naruto. I am aware of how the tournament proceeded. Congratulations on taking the top spot by the way. I called you here to talk about your rather large pool of ninjutsu. I am glad that you have been practicing, but I was wondering where you have been acquiring your new jutsu." Hiruzen said genuinely curious.

"I've been reading scrolls in the library. I usually practice in my free time after school." Naruto simply lied. None of it was technically false. He did read the jutsu scrolls in the library, just not the Konoha library, and he really did practice right after school most days.

"I see. Well Iruka gave me a list of jutsu that you showcased to your class. I was surprised to see that not only do you have three C-rank jutsu other than the rock clone jutsu, but you also have two B-rank as well, and only one of the C-ranks and one of the B-ranks are available in the Konoha library unless you are an experienced genin or a chunin." Hiruzen said with a semi-serious tone.

Naruto had started to sweat somewhat at this point. "Eh….ehe….Really? I uhh…..that's weird. They were there when I got them."

"Hm. Well actually Naruto two in particular interest me. Just how did you come across the Vacuum Sphere jutsu and Vacuum Blade jutsu?"

Naruto's head perked up. "Oh well that Danzo guy gave me scrolls for them. He came up to me after school about a month ago and said that they were an early birthday present since he wouldn't be around when it came up. It's weird that he knows my birthday though." He said with a tilt of his head.

"Everybody in Konoha knows what your birthday is Naruto."

Naruto looked confused. "Eh? Why?"

"Naruto…..you were born on October 10th."

"What does that have to do with anythi…..ohhhhh. I get it." Naruto realized.

"Precisely. However, that isn't important right now. So Danzo gave you those scrolls did he? Did he ever approach you after that?" Hiruzen asked cautiously.

"Nah. I haven't seen him since."

The Hokage scanned Naruto for any signs of lying, but found none.

Hiruzen sighed a breath of relief. 'Good. Then that means that Naruto is still Naruto.'

"Very well Naruto. Please tell me if Danzo speaks to you again."

Naruto nodded. "Sure thing Jiji. Why does it matter though? Do you not like him or something?"

Hiruzen hesitated. There was no need to involve Naruto in anything that he didn't need to be involved in. "Danzo has a much more….militaristic approach to many topics, so we disagree on most things. However, I would not say that I don't like him. He still cares very much for Konoha and its citizens, so I respect him."

"Alright then. I'll tell you if he talks to me. Should I stay away from him or anything like that?" Naruto asked.

"I don't believe that there is any need for that. Unless he tells you anything about an organization called root, it should be fine. If he gives you anymore jutsu scrolls, please inform me. Also, make sure to refer to him formally. He is your elder and a very influential man in Konoha."

Naruto nodded once again. "Sure. He also gave me scrolls for Wind Release Slash and the Vacuum Wave jutsu, but I hadn't gotten around to them yet since I barely just mastered the other two he gave me."

"I see. Well thank you for telling me that Naruto. If you see Danzo again, make sure to thank him. The Vacuum style set is his own personal creation. He is the only other person who knows it, so make sure to take great care when showing it to others. Luckily it has a fairly complex usage as I am sure you know, so even if anyone who saw you use them remembered the hand seals, none of them would be able to reproduce it. Have a good day Naruto." Hiruzen waved goodbye to Naruto as he shut the door behind him.

However before he could get back to his paperwork, he heard a muffled voice from the other side of the door. It was Naruto speaking to someone else.

"Oh. Hey old man Danzo. Thanks for the jutsu scrolls from before."

Hiruzen face palmed. Naruto had very quickly forgotten that he had just told him to address Danzo formally.

"Of course Naruto-san. I am always happy to help an aspiring ninja. Especially a talented one such as yourself. I heard about your exploits yesterday. Congratulations on obtaining the top spot in the academy. I heard that you showed mastery of both the Vacuum Blade jutsu and Vacuum Sphere jutsu. I am glad that you have done so well learning my own creations." Danzo replied kindly.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head from the praise. "Hehe, thanks! I'm gonna start learning the other two pretty soon here. Those jutsu are really awesome!"

'Huh. This guy doesn't seem so bad. Maybe Jiji is just overreacting.' Naruto thought simply.

Danzo nodded. "I see. I look forward to seeing you grow into a fine ninja. I am glad that you have taken to my vacuum ninjutsu so well. If you would like I could supply you with more scrolls once you finish with the other two, and perhaps I could give you scrolls for other jutsu as well. I know that you have taken to using both wind and earth jutsu, so I may be able to find an earth ninjutsu for you as well."

Naruto smiled widely. "Really? That's awesome! Thanks a bunch Old Man Danzo. But how can I find you?"

"Hmm. Well I attend a weekly meeting with Hiruzen every Saturday at 4:00 PM, so if you want to find me, that would most likely be the most consistent time."

Naruto smiled. "Cool. I'll find you when I finish then. See you!" Naruto waved as he ran off.

Danzo walked knocked on Hiruzen's door and entered. "Hello Hiruzen. I assume you heard our conversation?"

"Indeed. I see that you have taken an interest in Naruto. See to it that your interest doesn't go further than giving him jutsu to use."

"Very well." Danzo nodded. "I simply recognize the boy's immense talent, and I wish to supply him with anything I can to prepare him for his career."

* * *

 **About 5 Hours Later, The Chamber Arena, Konohagakure no Sato**

For about 4 hours, Naruto had been training with the elemental training for wind and earth. Luckily he had recently figured out that he could use shadow clones to train. Whenever he dispelled a shadow clone, he received the memories that it had compiled. He had already known that for quite a long time after the Hokage had told him, but he hadn't thought to use it for training until now.

For about a week he had been making about 20 shadow clones at a time to train. The first time he used the method, he used about 200. However he toned it down after he passed out from the memory influx when he dispelled them. He had been out for much longer than he had expected and he had been a few hours late to the academy.

However, 20 was plenty if he was training for a few hours. If he trained with 20 clones for 3 hours, it was as if he trained for 60 hours. If he had half of them training with leaf splitting and the other half working on the spiked earth ball, it was as if he trained for 30 hours in each in the time span of 3 hours.

Considering that he was already fairly far into his training, the past week of clone training was all he really needed. Having trained for 3 hours a day every day for the last week, he had essentially trained in each elemental training for 210 hours, or 420 hours total.

Those 420 hours had boosted his training forward immensely. Before he figured out the method, he was able to put a small nick in the leaf and he was able to form a somewhat spherical ball. A week later, he was able to almost completely split the leaf and he could form a spiked ball with only a few slightly malformed spikes.

Now, Naruto was almost done. Just a little push would allow him to finish. Just a little more.

Naruto and all his clones had strained looks on their faces with sweat beading down them.

'Just a little bit more. Just a little bit more!'

One of the clones yelled out.

"Yatta! I split it ya know!"

And another.

"This damn ball of earth is done ya know!"

More, and more, and more until all 20 clones and Naruto had completed their training.

All of the clones dispelled and Naruto passed out.

'Kekkei Genkai…..here I come.'

* * *

 **The Next Day, Forest of Quiet Movement, Konoha Outskirts, Wednesday, September 5** **th** **, 248** **th** **Day of the Academy Year, 4:00 PM**

"Very well Naruto. Please show me the first elemental training stages for wind and earth." Hiruzen requested as he and Naruto came to a stop in the middle of a plain field with trees surrounding it.

Naruto smiled and created a shadow clone. He grabbed a leaf and his clone gathered a large clump of dirt in its hands.

"Here I go. Watch this old man." Naruto said as he and his clone got into his stance. Naruto put the leaf between his palms and his clone cupped its hands around the dirt.

After a few seconds of concentration, Naruto unfolded his hands to show two halves of a leaf. Naruto's clone slowly unfurled its hands to show a hardened spiked earth ball form.

Both Naruto and his clone spoke in unison. "See Jiji? I did it!"

Hiruzen deadpanned. "Very good Naruto. I'm impressed that you completed your training so quickly."

Naruto and his clone rubbed the back of their heads. "Well actually I started using my shadow clones to help move training along a week ago. It really boosted my training." Naruto explained.

"I see. That is a very unique way of using shadow clones. I suppose that with your immense chakra reserves that replenish so quickly it is useful. Make sure that you don't overdo it though. I know that receiving too many memories at once can be harmful."

Naruto dispelled his clone and smiled. "Sure thing Jiji. Hey, why did we come out here anyway? Wouldn't that clan training ground be good?" Naruto asked with a tilt of his head.

Hiruzen nodded. "Indeed, that would work for most intended training, however we will be testing out an unknown Kekkei Genkai today so I thought that it would be best to test this in a hidden away area. This forest is called The Forest of Quiet Movement, and it was the place that the fourth Hokage fought the Nine-tails."

It took a moment for Naruto to process that. "So this is where the Nine-tails was sealed inside of me?"

"….Indeed. Minato teleported the Nine-Tails here and engaged it." Hiruzen said sadly. He then decided to share a small amount of information with Naruto. "When Minato realized that the Nine-tails was too powerful to be sealed during combat, he used a forbidden seal and made a contract with the reaper of death to seal away the Yin chakra of the Nine-tails inside of himself so that he could seal its Yang half inside of you."

"Wait….So I only have half of the Nine-tails inside of me? The Fourth sealed half of it with him?" Naruto said disbelievingly.

Hiruzen took a moment to ponder his response. "….Yes Naruto. You only contain the Yang half of the Nine-tails inside of you. Yang chakra is based on the physical energy that governs vitality, and can be used to breathe life into form. All people have both Yin and Yang chakra."

"I guess that makes sense." Naruto said as he looked down. However he quickly perked up once again and smiled. "But whatever, let's find out what my Kekkei Genkai is!"

"Very well Naruto. Face the trees behind you and close your eyes. I need you to focus on the feeling of both your wind and earth chakras. Focus them and bring them together in your navel. Imagine the two chakra types swirling together and mixing into a new type of chakra and do it. Bring the two types together until you can feel it concentrated all together."

After about 20 seconds of silence, Naruto responded. "Alright I think I did it. It feels….weird."

"Good. Now stick out your arms, point your palms forward, and push that new chakra out of the chakra points on your palms. Imagine the chakra being sent out towards the trees. Be careful because we don't know what could happen." Hiruzen said cautiously.

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut even tighter. "Alright. Here goes something!" He tensed his whole body and pushed the new chakra out of all of the chakra points on his hands in a concentrated blast.

Naruto heard an audible gasp from the Hokage. "What? Can I open my eyes now? What is it? What happened?!"

"Naruto…it's beautiful. Look." Hiruzen said with wide eyes.

Naruto opened his eyes and gasped as well. There was a long stream of pink crystal formed across the grass and touching even a tree in the forest. Actually, it wasn't formed across it. It was more like the grass and part of the tree trunk had been transformed into the pink crystal construct.

"Naruto…It seems that you have the ability to create crystal. I had heard rumors of the power once before, but they were just vague rumors that might as well have been fairy tales. Congratulations. This is absolutely undocumented in all Konoha record books and most likely in the world. It's amazing." Hiruzen breathed out while still staring at the crystal.

Naruto was equally surprised. He was currently looking back and forth from his hands to the crystal. "I-I did this? I can make crystals?" Naruto muttered out. "That's so coooool." He now whispered loudly in awe of his new ability.

"Naruto, please attempt to cause the crystal disappear."

Naruto nodded and looked at the crystal. With a thought, the crystal shattered into tiny bits that soon crumbled into dust that couldn't be seen by the human eye. This of course also caused the tree to tumble down due to part of its trunk being now gone.

"Naruto…how did you destroy it?"

Naruto shook his head. "I dunno. I just thought about it being gone."

"I see….. This is truly a magnificent ability Naruto. We will have to test what else you can do with this Kekkei Genkai. Please attempt to create a sphere of crystal in your palm." Hiruzen requested.

"Alright." Naruto stuck out his hand and pooled the new chakra into his hand. He concentrated it much like how he would for the light ball jutsu. Almost instantly a baseball sized ball of pink crystal formed in Naruto's hand. "Woah. This is awesome ya know."

"Naruto, please focus the crystal chakra and use the ram seal."

Naruto did so and released the chakra pointed at the ground a few meters away from him. A few large crystals shot out of the ground in a cluster. The largest of them in the middle was about Naruto's height.

Naruto jumped up. "That's so cool! How did you know that it would do that?!"

Hiruzen grinned. "I did not know the exact results beforehand, however the ram seal alone generally signifies a simple jutsu that creates a construct in a different spot. It is often used in earth based jutsu, so I hypothesized that it may elicit a positive response due to the earth component of your Kekkei Genkai."

Naruto's eyes sparkled briefly. "Oooooh. You're so smart Jiji. Anything else that we can do?"

"Hmm. Well I think that we should contain today's training to making sure that you have control over your ability. Once you can do that I believe that it would be safer to combine different hand seals. I also believe that we should wait to train with shadow clones until we fully understand this new power."

Naruto deflated a little bit. "How long is it gonna take me to get control?"

Hiruzen stroked his chin. "Hmm. Well honestly it may not take long at all. I am very impressed in your apparent control that you already possess. It is possible that your common usage of earth and wind jutsu has improved your control over this type of jutsu." Hiruzen explained. "In addition, it is also possible that your crystal release also takes use of yang release, which you have a large abundance of due to the yang part of the Nine-tails flowing through your body. It would be logical to assume this seeing as it seems as if your ability revolves around not just creating crystal, but transforming other things into crystal using your chakra. This would fall under the category of "breathing life into form" in a way. At the very least, it seems to oppose the definition of Yin release which is centered on creating something out of nothing." Hiruzen stated, slightly moving into his "professor mode".

Naruto looked slightly confused, but shook it off. "Well I don't really get it, but that sounds cool. Let's get to work!"

Once again, Hiruzen smiled. "Haha. So eager to learn by practice as opposed to verbal learning. You are much like an old student of mine, but also like another in other ways." He stated somewhat sadly.

Hiruzen walked with a chuckle after Naruto who was running further into the clearing to practice.

 **Hey guys! Sorry for such a long wait. I had some life stuff going on recently and quite honestly, I got lazy. I put quite a bit of work and research into this chapter though, so I hope you like it. Just a few things I want to say.**

 **• I should mention that Naruto in this story will be a strong Naruto. I feel like someone who can master the rasengan in a week and master Sage mode in a week can be considered at least extremely talented, if not a prodigy. Say all you want about Naruto learning those because of "hard work", but remember that even after years of trying, Jiraiya still never mastered sage mode. Even after he trained for years and became one of the legendary sannin, it still took Jiraiya months to master the rasengan, and an inexperienced and "untalented" Naruto did it in a week. Plus, with having very strong earth and wind affinities, Naruto will have a much easier time learning earth and wind jutsu.**

 **• I should probably mention that if I'm not showing some scenes that you would expect such as more developments such as more training with the Inuzuka clan, or Naruto bonding with Sasuke, I have some good reasons. First of all, I am a strong believer of the phrase "Show don't tell" which I am actually not great at, but I'm trying my best. I plan to show you guys over time how their relationships have evolved and changed and maybe leave some room for some flashbacks later on. My second reason is that if I start to show too much, I end up in a position where I have to make the scenes more dramatic and important, whereas I think that their friendship is mostly going to be like a normal strong friendship. They will form their bond by just spending time with each other and slowly coming to respect each other.**

 **• I hope you guys like my take on hand seals and how they work. I am still figuring it out at the moment, but I will try to have it completed eventually. I feel like if Naruto is going to have a Kekkei Genkai that only one other person in the series ever has (In a filler arc BTW), then Naruto will have to more or less come up with his own techniques. I may include Guren, I may not. I can tell you that I have a plan for how the crystal release ties into lore and stuff though, so please trust me on that one.**

 **• I hope that you like my take on Yin and Yang release.**

 **• Do you guys like the way that I am advancing both Hiruzen and Danzo's relationship with Naruto? I always felt like Danzo was underappreciated as a ninja and that the fandom of Naruto randomly bashes him too much.**

 **• Lastly, I hope that you guys are OK with the way that I am taking Naruto's abilities. I always felt like a lot of characters in Naruto got turned into one trick ponies even though they had really good potential to be diverse. For example, Kakashi was supposed to be the copy ninja of over 1000 jutsu, but then he ended up always using the Sharingan and chidori. I feel like Naruto needs to have a big variety of techniques. I don't want someone fighting him to just walk up with a big mirror to reflect his light style and win.**

 **As always, you guys are absolutely wonderful. Even as a new writer, I love reading your reviews and feedback, even if it isn't always good. I appreciate that any of you take the time to read my story and leave a review. It's a very humbling thing.**


	6. Chapter 6: Revealing Truths

**Author's Note:** Welcome back everyone! I present to you, the sixth chapter of The True Child of Light. I'm glad that you guys liked the last chapter and how I approached the crystal release. I have tons of things planned.

 **Disclaimer:** Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the official release.

 **Important Notes:**

•This one is actually really important. I'm not actually sure about Kushina's parents, but in this story she was the princess of the Uzumaki clan. I know that she isn't actually, but it's just for the story. It isn't going to change her history or anything, but you'll see why I did it.

•I have decided that in this story, Naruto's verbal tic will be his mother's "Ya know" because I like it a lot more than "believe it" and they had him adopt it later in the series anyway, so it makes sense. I have also gone back and changed previous chapters.

•You may have already noticed, but I have decided to pretty much always use the English names for a jutsu or technique unless it just doesn't fit well. Sorry if you prefer the Japanese names, but I feel like writing it in English is just more natural for me. I watch Naruto and all anime in Japanese, but I grew up watching Naruto in English from the beginning. That isn't to say that I don't like the Japanese forms, but I feel like for the sake of writing the names of jutsu it is simpler. (Hell, I took two years of Japanese, so I most certainly like the language.) I will still throw in some Japanese every now and then though, so don't be too surprised if you see it. I will be keeping the Hiraishin just because I like saying it.

•I noticed that my way of changing scenes wasn't working, and it was only showing the words and not the thick black line above them. I will now be clearly stating all scene changes. Sorry if there was ever any confusion.

•In this story I will most likely not directly show Guren at all or even reference her. However some of the techniques that she used in the anime were either fairly generic or just really cool concepts. I mean generic in a sense that it is something that anyone would think of, so I can't really avoid copying it. There will be some crystal jutsu that Naruto will come up with that are similar or almost exactly the same as ones that she uses, except they will probably have a different name. However if it's something like "Crystal Shuriken", I can't really change that much.

Without further ado, I present to you the 6th chapter of The True Child of Light.

"Shut it teme." – Regular speech

 _'Baka!'_ – Internal thoughts

 _:Shannaro!:_ – Inner Sakura

 _-Random book mumbo jumbo stuff-_ –Books

 **"I swear I'm going to eat you brat."** – Bijuu talking

 ** _'Hmm. The kid isn't half bad.'_** – Bijuu thinking

 **"Katon: Goukakakyuu no Jutsu!"** (Fire release: Great Fireball Technique) – Jutsu

 **Chapter 6: Revealing Truths**

 **35 Days Later, Forest of Quiet Movement, Konoha Outskirts, Wednesday, October 10** **th** **,** **283rd** **Day of the Academy Year, 6:00 PM**

 **"Crystal Thorn Tree!"** Naruto yelled violently as he slammed his hands down on the ground in front of him.

Large ridges of crystal shot out of the ground in a straight line towards the forest and continued to grow and advance forward until Naruto stopped flowing his chakra through them.

By the time Naruto stopped fueling the jutsu, multiple trees had been pierced through and destroyed. Naruto had recently found that taking out his anger or stress on trees was the best option. The trees in Konoha grew at a miraculous rate, especially in more secluded areas like the Forest of Quiet Movement or the Forest of Death.

According to the third Hokage, many forests of Konoha were grown or stimulated by the wood release of the first Hokage, and so his potent Nature chakra still flowed naturally through much of the plant life, especially more secluded areas that were more or less undisturbed by humans.

There were usually two main reasons that Naruto would be indiscriminately destroying the forest in mass amounts. Immense anger or immense stress. In this case, it was the former.

The source of this anger today was that it was October 10th or in other words, Naruto's birthday. For any normal child his age, a birthday would be a great day. However, October 10th wasn't just Naruto's birthday, it was also the day that almost every person in the village participated in the Kyuubi festival supposedly meant to celebrate the death of the nine-tails and to respect the dead from that day.

However not everyone always celebrated for that reason. It was the only day that there were so many villagers publicly acting out against Naruto, so the anbu forces that were set in place to keep everyone in check was never enough to completely protect Naruto.

Normally the villagers contained their abuse to verbal form or just by ignoring Naruto, but on October 10th many civilians and ninja alike consumed far more alcohol than they should, which ultimately resulted in many ignorant people that were far from in their right mind. Unfortunately that also meant that some of them got a somewhat violent.

It was nothing outrageous or insane like you would read in an edgy book where the main character gets tortured by his own people, but there was some major vandalism and the occasional idiot who decided that it was their job to teach the "demon brat" a physical lesson.

School was out that day due to the festival, which meant that Naruto really had nothing better to do than train. He could have trained in the chambers, but generally some of his larger crystal jutsu that he had created tended to do a little bit more damage than he was willing to fix.

Naruto decided that if he was going to train, he may as well do it in a far away and secluded place where no one would find him that day. He had been training with some of his more tiring jutsu for the past couple of hours.

Since he learned about his Kekkei Genkai, he had been primarily focusing on getting proper control over it and creating techniques. Unlike his other ninjutsu styles, he didn't already have a stock of jutsu to learn from. Luckily for him Hiruzen was somewhat proficient in the theoretical creation of jutsu, so it made it much easier to form his own jutsu.

While Naruto took a rest to catch his breath, he pondered the day and events of said day. If anything, knowing why the villagers hated him particularly on this day made the pain of it all even worse.

'Those idiotic villagers won't know what hit em. One day I'll be strong enough to show them all and gain their respect!'

Of course, at this moment Naruto noticed a large black plume of smoke coming from the village.

"Ah whatever. Those guys can deal with it themselves." Naruto said dismissively.

Although it was also at that moment when a thought raced through Naruto's mind.

'That's in the direction of my apartment. I….I had better go check it out to make sure that it doesn't spread to my place.' Naruto reasoned.

A few minutes later, Naruto arrived at the site of the fire. However what he saw was not what he had expected at all. It wasn't just some building that was burning down, it was his apartment. Naruto spotted a few torches laying around the area and his door had been kicked wide open.

"Well fuck."

Naruto crossed his index and middle fingers of both hands together and summoned 10 clones.

"What are you guys waiting for? Go contain the fire! Do whatever you can to get that fire put out quick!" Naruto bellowed at his clones.

Naruto frowned as his clones ran towards the apartment. Who the hell would do something like this? It was clearly a planned attack, but who would have the guts to actually do it?

Naruto watched carefully as Naruto's clones smothered the fire with earth manipulation and used the gale palm jutsu to try and put out the fire. This was one of the many times he regretted not learning a water jutsu at some point.

He would have used the Great Breakthrough jutsu, but he knew that it was more likely to destroy the complex more than save it.

Naruto created a few earth clones that could withstand the fire and sent them inside to try and find any stragglers. The fact that someone was willing to set fire to the complex just to get at Naruto was absurd. After all, many other people lived there as well. Some of them may have been out at the festival, but there were bound to be at least a few people who stayed home. Luckily his earth clones came out about a minute later and shook their heads and dispelled.

At that point, a few Anbu showed up and doused the fire with some water style jutsu. Naruto dispelled his clones with a sigh and dropped to the ground. At that moment, the same purple haired anbu that had taken Mizuki away popped up in front of Naruto.

"Uzumaki-kun, Hokage-sama would like to speak to you immediately. We will handle anything else from here. Is there anything that you would request us to retrieve from inside your apartment?

Naruto thought about his response for a moment. "Nah. I don't really have anything valuable."

"Very well. Then please report to Hokage-sama."

"Alright. Thanks for your work." With that, Naruto raced off towards the Hokage tower. Maybe the old man had some answers for him.

A little while later, Naruto was knocking on Hiruzen's office door.

After a few seconds, Naruto heard Hiruzen speak. "Come in Naruto."

Naruto walked in slowly and sat down with a slump in one of the padded chairs.

"Naruto, do you know anything about the fire incident? Did you see the culprit?" Hiruzen asked seriously.

Naruto shook his head. "Nope. I didn't see the person who did it, but I did notice the torches around the complex and that my door was kicked in, so it was definitely intentional.

"I see. Well I apologize for all of this. I should have made sure that this was handled better and that we could have foreseen and prevented all of it from happening."

Naruto waved his arms in front of himself. "Don't worry about me Jiji! I'll be fine."

Hiruzen nodded sadly. "I am sure that you will be Naruto. However, I would like to extend an offer to you. I would like for you to live in the Sarutobi compound from now on. At least until you become a ninja and can make money from missions to pay for your own apartment. I know that you can be stubborn, but I want to help you."

Externally, Naruto just looked thoughtful at the request. Internally he was in a major state of panic. 'What do I say? I already have the chambers, but he doesn't know about that. And if I refused, Jiji would get suspicious or ask why, and I don't have a good excuse for why! Agh! What do I do?!'

"Sure." Naruto blurted out suddenly.

Naruto's face went white. 'Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. What was that?! That isn't what I wanted to say!'

Hiruzen sighed in relief. "I see. I am glad that you are willing to accept my help. I am almost done here, so if you could wait for about an hour, I can escort you to the clan compound and help you with living arrangements. I suppose that there will have to be shopping to get done to replace your burned clothes and items."

At this point, Naruto was still panicking when he came up with an idea. "Well, I actually have a hidden stash in one of the forested areas with some clothes and stuff. I should have enough there."

'Nice one Naruto! He'll never suspect a thing!'

However, Naruto misjudged the situation. Hiruzen had a look of concern on his face. "Naruto, why would you need a stash in the forest with supplies?"

Well fuck.

"Uhhh. Well sometimes some of my stuff gets destroyed so I like to keep some stuff a little bit far away where no one can find it."

Hiruzen's eyebrow raised slightly. "Destroyed? And how do your possessions get destroyed exactly?"

Fuck once again.

"Uhh….villagers who destroy my place and stuff?" Naruto lied oh so masterfully. Well, it was only a half lie. His apartment did get ransacked every once and awhile.

Once again, the slight killing intent from Hiruzen increased. "Villagers you say? There are people of Konoha that are publicly acting out against you and destroying your possessions? Civilians?"

"Yes?"

"Even my own Ninja?"

Triple fuck.

"….Yes?"

"I see Naruto. Very well, take this time to gather your stashed belongings. I have some people to talk to." Hiruzen said with a sweet smile that hinted at immense anger.

Naruto just nodded and left towards the chambers. Of course he had to get himself roped into something like this. This meant that he could only bring a few things other than clothes or else it would get suspicious, and he would have a much harder time training early in the morning and later in the day.

Of course, the Forest of Quiet Movement worked well as a training spot, but not only was it not technically a proper training grounds, but the Hokage occasionally popped by to see how Naruto's training was coming along, which meant that Naruto wouldn't be able to openly practice his light style without fear of someone else coming across the clearing.

Naruto sighed while jumping through the trees. 'I guess I'll have to sneak out here as often as I can to train and read in the library.' He thought to himself. 'I suppose I'll end up telling Jiji about all of this eventually.'

He climbed down the hatch and ran around packing his things. Of course he packed some clothes, a lighter, a few survival tools, and some rations to make his story of a stash believable but he didn't know what else to add.

He already had plenty of jutsu that he was working on or was planning to, so he didn't need to bring any jutsu scrolls for now. He already wore his weights constantly, he had his clothes, and he had his jutsu.

'Wow. I live a really simple life when I think about it.' Naruto sweatdropped.

 ***~~~Scene Change!~~~***

 **About an Hour Later, Hiruzen's Office, Konohagakure no Sato, Wednesday, October 10** **th** **, 283rd** **Day of the Academy Year, 8:00 PM**

After the last person walked out of the Hokage's office, Naruto walked right in with his bag in his hands.

"Hey Jiji! I'm ready to go!" Naruto exclaimed.

Hiruzen stood up and stuck out his right arm. "Very well Naruto. Grab my hand."

Naruto faltered a little bit. "What?" He questioned. "What am I, a little kid?"

"Naruto you are still only 12, so to me you are a kid. However I am going to transport us straight to the Sarutobi compound."

Naruto grabbed Hiruzen's hand and felt a tugging feeling a few seconds later both of them were surrounded with a swirl of leaves. When they reappeared, they were standing in front of the Sarutobi compound.

Naruto twisted around and looked at his new surroundings. "Woah! How'd you do that Jiji?"

Hiruzen smiled at the confused boy. "That Naruto, was the body flicker jutsu. It allows the user to almost instantly transport themselves to somewhere that they can see or that they have been before by using chakra to momentarily speed up the body to incredible speeds. Of course, there is quite a limited range on it so it isn't possible to transport yourself very far distances. If you are skilled enough you can take someone with you."

Naruto's eyes practically sparkled. "Coool! Can you teach me that?"

"Maybe one day Naruto. It may only be a D-rank jutsu, but I would like you to at least reach the rank of Genin before learning it as it has proven to be a dangerous jutsu in the past."

Naruto drooped a little bit. "Aww. Alright then."

"I apologize Naruto, but you have a lot on your plate as it is. Now let us go inside to get your living arrangements set up. I sent word ahead of time, so everything should be prepared."

The Sarutobi compound was somewhat different than the other clan compounds. It was nowhere near as large as clans such as the Hyuuga clan or even the Nara clan. It was essentially comprised of two large buildings. The first was the area for ninja to stay, armories, storage, etc. It was a little bit more hidden away.

The second building stood tall at the front gates. It was essentially the living area for the higher ups in the clan and was also the place that held the main kitchens and offices. If course, Hiruzen and Naruto walked into this one.

"Awesome Jiji! This place is huge ya know!" Naruto said while looking around.

"Hahaha. Indeed Naruto." Hiruzen said as they walked up to the top floor. "Come, your room is next to Konohamaru's room, which is right across from mine."

Naruto had only seen Konohamaru in passing when he visited the Hokage's office, but he knew who he was even if they had never personally spoken with each other.

Naruto opened the door that Hiruzen pointed to and walked in. It was a fairly spacious room with a few dressers, a large bed, its own bathroom, and a balcony.

Hiruzen spoke up. "I had dinner delayed until we arrived so that you could meet my family as soon as possible. I am sure that you are tired from the events today."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Aw thanks Jiji. I'm starving after all of that training. Lead the way."

Both of them walked down to the large dining room. It had a rectangular long and low table with cushions placed all around it, with a larger cushion with a back put at the far end of the table for the clan head. When they arrived, all but two seats were taken by family members and clan elders.

There was everyone from the elderly to young children seated, all of which stood up and bowed when Hiruzen walked into the room.

"Hello everyone, this is Naruto Uzumaki." He said directing his hand towards Naruto. "As you know, he will be staying with us until further notice." Hiruzen stated formally.

Everyone was silent for a moment until Hiruzen nodded at Naruto, prompting him to speak.

"Ah….ummm….I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Nice to meet you ya know." He said nervously.

Hiruzen walked to the end of the table and motioned towards a seat next to Konohamaru, who upon seeing Naruto sit next to him, decided to throw in his two cents.

"What's so special about him? Why is he gonna live with us? He doesn't even look that strong." Konohamaru asked somewhat furiously. "Is he just some rich kid?"

Naruto's eye twitched at the last comment. Naruto was anything but rich, and the implication that he wasn't strong didn't help either.

Seeing the look on Naruto's face, Hiruzen interrupted.

"Be polite Konohamaru. Naruto is the top of his class in the academy, so he is certainly not weak. Naruto's home was attacked and burned down while he was away on a secret assignment for me, and so I am allowing him to stay with us until he finds his own new place to stay. You have met him a few times in my office before, and I expect you to apologize." He said sternly

He had twisted the truth a little bit. Technically he did assign Naruto to a specific training time for his crystal style, and no one else knew about it, so his house was burned down while he was on a secret assignment for him.

Konohamaru frowned. "Alright fine. Sorry about that."

However, he then sprang back up. "Hold on! What assignment did you go on? You're still in the academy aren't you?!"

An elder from across the table spoke up. "Now Konohamaru, Hokage-sama said that it is a secret assignment, and therefore only he has the clearance to speak of it." Although inside everyone else in the room was dying to know as well.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "It's alright. I get that kind of stuff all the time, so it doesn't really bother me. As for the assignment, yeah it's a secret. Sorry."

'Nice one Jiji. Making me sound badass at the same time as fixing the problem doesn't hurt at all.' Naruto gave Hiruzen a mental thumbs up.

Konohamaru sat back down with a defeated look.

Hiruzen smiled. "Well now that that is settled, let us eat. I apologize for the long wait."

Across the table was a large assortment of foods and drinks. Not necessarily a feast, but certainly a large meal, especially by Naruto's standards.

As he ate, Naruto listened to the conversations going around the table. Most of them were light political topics or stories of the day. The Sarutobi clan was clearly not like the Inuzuka clan, but they were still normal people who had everyday lives. Well, as normal as a clan of ninja gets.

Afterwards, everyone dispersed and went about their business. Naruto walked back to his new room and flopped over into his bed. It had been a long day.

 ***~~~Scene Change!~~~***

 **The Next Day, The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato, Thursday, October 11** **th** **,** **284th** **Day of the Academy Year, 12:00 PM**

Lunch had just started, and everyone was sitting down and beginning to eat, including Naruto. He sat down next to Sasuke and Kiba and started to eat. Naruto wasn't a nosy person, but he couldn't help but hear the conversation of the people loudly speaking next to them.

"Man, I wish that clones could do stuff for me. Then I would just send a clone to school and stay home."

"Yeah, but how would you keep up a clone all day? It's just an illusion."

Naruto stopped eating for a second. 'Wait a minute…'

"That's it!"

Sasuke looked up from his food with a curious look on his face. "What's it?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll be right back!" Naruto yelled as he ran out of the classroom.

"What the hell was that about?"

Kiba just shrugged. "Hell if I know."

Once Naruto had reached the roof, he closed the door and crossed his fingers. 12 clones appeared around him.

"Go! You know your orders!"

The 12 clones nodded and jumped away.

"Haha! Why didn't I think of this before? I can just send clones to the chambers to do stuff while I'm at school. It's perfect!" He laughed loudly.

Naruto walked back down and into the classroom with a smile on his face.

Sasuke glanced over. "What's up Naruto? You gonna tell us what that was about or not?"

"Well you see…." The suspense was building gradually as the silence went on.

"I'll tell you when we graduate. Like I said, don't worry about it ya know." Naruto grinned.

Kiba and Sasuke both just face planted on the ground. "Troublesome." They both grumbled.

A tired "Hey!" was heard from the back of the room.

 ***~~~Scene Change!~~~***

 **A Few Hours Later, The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato, Thursday, October 11** **th** **,** **284th** **Day of the Academy Year, 2:00 PM**

In the middle of a lecture from Iruka, an influx of memories flooded into Naruto's mind. Which was weird, because he had given them enough chakra to last through the day.

The memories from the clone set in. "Assholes!" He exclaimed loudly, interrupting Iruka.

Two of his clones had been assigned to look for any reference to crystal ninjutsu or anything interesting in general. Apparently they had gotten bored and decided that doing library experiments was a better use of their time.

The most recent discovery was that large books that were wrapped with a strap of leather did indeed make fine projectiles. Apparently good enough to burst one of the clones.

Iruka frowned. "Is there something that you would like to share with the class Naruto?" He said sternly.

Well shit.

"Uhhhh….no?"

"Are you sure about that? I don't care if you are the best in the class, I will not tolerate interruptions or such language during my lectures."

Naruto laughed a little bit. "Uhhh…I was just thinking about something else from before and I thought about something someone said to me. In hindsight it was kinda rude."

Iruka sighed and went back to the lecture.

 ***~~~Scene Change!~~~***

 **20 minutes later, The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato, Thursday, October 11** **th** **,** **284th** **Day of the Academy Year, 2:20 PM**

Iruka was still in the middle of his lecture when the door slid open quickly and Naruto ran through it to the front of the class. Except Naruto was also sitting at his desk. Which meant that this was a clone.

"Boss! Boss! We're running out of chakra and we need more of us! Also one of us popped. Death by book is not a good way to go. And there's something that you should see. It's big."

Naruto rose from his seat quickly. "You idiot! You should've just killed yourself!"

The clone put his fist into his open hand with a pop. "Oh! That's smart boss. I should have thought of that!"

"You're me dumbass!"

"Oh! You're right!"

Naruto sighed. "Ugh. Whatever, come on." He said as he waved the clone towards the door and walked to it. "Iruka-sensei can I be excused for a few minutes? I really need to go deal with this."

Iruka stopped them before they could leave. "Now hold on Naruto! What is all of this about?"

"Come on Iruka-sensei! Just for a few minutes. I'll be back before you know it."

Iruka persisted. "Not unless I know what this is for."

Naruto put his hand to his head. "It's just some training stuff. It's nothing big. I'll be back before you know it! I won't even miss that much of the lecture."

"You have 10 minutes Naruto."

At this point, clone Naruto spoke up. "Uhhh…Iruka-sensei? It's gonna take more than 10 minutes. You know how he gets."

Sasuke and Kiba stood up. "You're him dumbass!" They yelled in unison.

"Shut up dumb brigade!" The clone yelled.

"Dirt boy!" Sasuke bit back.

"Duck-butt!"

"Noodle brain!"

Iruka stepped in. "Both of you be quiet! Fine Naruto. You're dismissed for today, but you're staying after school for the same amount of time tomorrow."

"Thanks Iruka-sensei! It'll be fine ya know!" And with that, Naruto and his clone ran out towards the chambers.

Iruka sighed. "Does anyone know what just happened? Sasuke? Kiba?"

Sasuke shrugged, oddly miffed at his loss. "Your guess is as good as mine. I hate when he talks to himself like that though."

"Honestly Sasuke, Naruto is such a strange influence on you."

 ***~~~Scene Change!~~~***

 **10 minutes later, The Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, Thursday, October 11** **th** **,** **284th** **Day of the Academy Year, 2:30 PM**

"All right, go ahead and dispel now. All of you." Naruto ordered his clones. A few seconds later he received all of their memories and learned about what had happened over the past couple of hours and the current problem.

"Well shit. That IS weird."

Apparently the indented blank space in the wall near the back of the library actually contained a hidden passage that opened up when the clone got dispelled next to it.

'It probably reacts to chakra being sent through it, and since the shadow clone produces a cloud of chakra smoke it probably dispersed into the walls to open it up. I'll bet that it reacts specifically to certain types of chakra such as the chakra of someone with an opened soul.'

Naruto summoned 6 clones. "Two of you stand at the entrance and make sure it stays open. Use an earth jutsu to keep it open before we go in. Two of you act as active guards on my flanks while the other two use light ball and shield from my front and back as support and sentries."

The clones got into formation and the two door guard clones casted the rock wall jutsu on either side of the entrance to keep the door from closing behind them and Naruto along with his four clones walked into the passage carefully.

All five of them used the crystal armor jutsu to give themselves some extra protection from any potential threats. Essentially it covered parts of his body where it wouldn't get in the way such as gloves and forearm guards, leg guards, some of the chest, and a few other places here and there.

The two guards on his flanks used the vacuum blade jutsu on kunai to make their reach much longer and make them more deadly.

The sentry clones activated the light ball jutsu to hover in front of them and activated shield. Shield was a technique that only someone with such naturally huge reserves like Naruto could use. Essentially he just had to push his chakra out in every direction and make a shell of chakra.

Two clones could combine their shields because they had the exact same chakra, and therefore it was as if it was the same entity using it.

Naruto used crystal armament to create long blades on his arms going slightly past his knuckles, and he also prepared a few shuriken just in case.

As they walked through the hallway silently, Naruto noticed that it got wider and wider until eventually enlarging suddenly into a huge lit up room with a large circular platform in the middle. The room itself wasn't the strange part however, it was what was on the platform.

Hovering and slowly spinning above the platform was a large turquoise glowing ball with strange runic markings covering it. (Look up "eye of Magnus" on google, it's basically that without the black lines, and somewhat lighter in color.)

"Holy shit. What is that?" Naruto whispered.

One of his clones responded. "I don't know boss, but it looks dangerous. It looks like it has seals all over it, so it probably has all kinds of security seals on it too. We don't want to trigger anything."

"I know, I know. Even with the studies of sealing that we've done, I can't understand any of this at all. These are all super complicated seals beyond my understanding. The only ones that I even understand are some storage seals."

Naruto created another clone and had it run to start getting any books on sealing available that was within his ability. "I don't want to take any chances with this thing. In the meantime, let's get out of here."

Naruto pointed to the two guard clones. "You two stay here. One of you needs to create another clone and dispel if anything happens. Don't touch that orb."

Naruto and the other two clones walked out of the passage. "What the hell is this thing?"

One of the clones next to Naruto perked up. "A power source maybe? It would explain how all of the light seals and stuff have chakra constantly streaming to them even without someone being near them."

The other clone perked up. "Or maybe it's a weapon?"

The clone that was looking for sealing books yelled from across the library. "Or maybe it's a chakra source! It could be there as a last resort to fill up chakra reserves!"

Naruto put his hand on his chin as he walked. "Hmmm…I guess those are always possible. I would bet on the first or second one though. It would make sense for the power source for the entire chamber to be so heavily protected by seals. Especially if it really is streaming chakra to the seals all around the place. There are preservation seals everywhere, so if that got interrupted the chambers would start to fall apart. The question is where it would be getting its power from."

Naruto may not have been the smartest person, but he had taken up sealing as a serious art a little while ago and it turned out that he was fairly good at it. Unfortunately it was extremely complicated and would take a very long time to master, so at this point he couldn't utilize it in battle effectively or make his own seals. He could however now make fairly decent explosive tags and he was able to copy the formula on the extra strong storage scrolls that Tenten had given him.

In addition, he had come across some very interesting battle tactics books in the library and had set a few clones to reading them while he trained sometimes.

Naruto faced the two door guard clones. "I think that those walls should hold even if you guys dispel, so go ahead and do that."

After the two clones dispelled, Naruto created 20 more. "Go help the other clone find any good sealing books that might be useful in the future and make an order that we should read them in. Also pick out anything else interesting that you find and put a note on it stating where it was. Go!"

The clones all ran off towards the sealing arts area.

He created 5 more clones. "You guys stay here and don't do anything. If something happens that you think that I should know about, have one of you dispel and I'll be here as fast as I can. So…go sit down or something, play cards."

"I'm gonna go train at the forest of quiet movement for a little bit while I come up with a good reason for leaving school early to tell Jiji." He said with a sigh.

 ***~~~Scene Change!~~~***

 **The Forest of Quiet Movement, Konohagakure no Sato, Thursday, October 11** **th** **,** **284th** **Day of the Academy Year, 4:00 PM**

 **"Crystal God Rain!"** Naruto called out after performing a few hand signs.

A mass of clear crystal shuriken appeared out of thin air and pelted the surrounding area before Naruto shattered them all at once to get rid of them.

 **"Giant Crystal Shuriken!"**

A large clear crystal shuriken about the size of a medium fūma shuriken with a straight edge pattern formed in Naruto's hand. He threw it directly towards the tree line and watched it shave multiple branches off before hitting the trunk of a tree and digging into it before stopping.

After once again willing the weapon to shatter, Naruto sat down for a minute.

"Man that makes cleanup so much easier."

Naruto heard a hearty laugh from behind him. "Indeed Naruto." The voice of the hokage rang out. "Now, would you like to tell me what exactly was so important that one of your clones pulled you out of school early today?"

Naruto whipped around. "AGH! Don't sneak up on me like that Jiji ya know!"

"I apologize. It seems that even after all these years out of the field my shinobi instincts are constantly active. However, could you give your reasoning please? My schedule was actually quite clear today so I have the rest of the day to listen."

Naruto pondered for a moment. 'Well I've already told Tenten and her dad. I trust Jiji, so it isn't a problem. Plus I bet he knows something about that weird orb.'

"Well you know that stash I was telling you about?"

Hiruzen nodded.

"Well it isn't just a stash. It's more like a big base… Underground."

The Hokage rubbed his chin. "I see. And how often do you stay at this base?"

"Uhhh….every day? I found it on the first day of school."

"I see. Why did you keep it a secret? Could I see it?"

Naruto stood up and brushed himself off. "Sure thing. I guess I just didn't tell you about it cuz I didn't want anyone to know. Although I did end up telling Tenten pretty fast cuz I needed some electrical and plumbing work done. I was gonna tell you on graduation day, I swear!" Naruto frantically waved his hands around, not wanting the Hokage to get the wrong idea.

"Hm. Well I suppose I can understand a need to hide things from people, and I'm not really one to criticize anyone about that. Lead the way Naruto."

"Right!" Naruto exclaimed as the two figures began to walk towards the chambers.

 ***~~~Scene Change!~~~***

 **Right Outside the Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, Thursday, October 11** **th** **,** **284th** **Day of the Academy Year, 4:40 PM**

As they were approaching the area of the chambers, Hiruzen spoke once again.

"So Naruto, even if this base is underground, how is it that no one ever found it. Even if it is in a rather secluded forest area in Konoha, we still live in a village full of ninja, and someone with the Byakugan would easily notice it." Hiruzen questioned.

"Well actually only I can see the entrance so far. For some reason it's invisible to everyone else. I dunno if the Byakugan could see it. The place has seals all over it, and I only know what some of them do." Naruto reasoned.

"I see. I am concerned though about when it was built. Do you know what the purpose of it was before it was abandoned?"

Naruto nodded. "Well it was apparently built at least 800 years ago, so way before Konoha was made. Apparently it belonged to some people called The Order of Light."

"Very well. And is it relevant to you in any way or did you simply find it one day?"

"Well apparently I'm something called "The Child of Light", which basically just means that I have a pure soul. It takes some getting used to." Naruto explained casually, as if he were speaking about the weather.

The Hokage nodded as they were getting close to the area. "Hmm. Well that is very interesting. I've never heard of any Order of Light or Child of Light. How is your soul tested?"

"Well basically I just opened up a big scroll and it stabbed me in the chest with a bunch of light tentacles to "probe" my soul or whatever. It said that if you don't have a pure soul, the test kills you. Apparently there's only a true child of light every few centuries. The last one died unexpectedly and so the order couldn't protect itself from her enemies, and got wiped out. "

"I-I see. Well I am glad that you passed the test then. I would certainly not want you dead, and from your explanation, we would most likely never find your body."

Naruto stopped right in front of the hatch. "Hmm. I guess you're right. That would suck." He agreed. "Just wait until you see the jutsu I get from it though!"

Hiruzen tilted his head. "Jutsu? Is there a specific style that you are learning?"

Naruto nodded as he leaned down to open the hatch. "Yeah. I'll show you inside. Just follow what I do. Only I can see the hatch, but you'll have to close it on your way down." Naruto said as he climbed down. "Come on!"

After Naruto had seemingly climbed straight into the ground as if it weren't there, his hand poked out of the ground and Hiruzen heard a muffled yell. "Just put your foot on my hand and let me guide it to the ladder!"

Hiruzen did so and allowed Naruto to guide his foot downwards. To his surprise, his foot did indeed sink directly into the ground. He then climbed down on his own until his head fully passed the top, and he proceeded to raise his hand upwards and grab the hatch to close it.

Once he climbed all the way down the ladder, he took in his surroundings. It was a large room with multiple shelves of books and scrolls, a few tables, and a large table in the back with a depiction of the kanji for light and six stars around it engraved into the wall above it held multiple scrolls.

Naruto spoke up. "Yeah don't open the ones on that table. The big one in the middle is the first scroll of the six. It's the one that kills you. I assume that the other ones do the same, so you probably shouldn't open them. Although they just look blank to me for now."

An efficient defense mechanism to be sure.

"I see. Well thank you for warning me Naruto. Where to first?" Hiruzen asked curiously.

Naruto waved him over to a hallway. "Follow me to the library. All of my clones are there right now looking some stuff up for me. It's also where the thing that I got pulled away for today is."

Hiruzen followed Naruto through a somewhat complex series of hallways until they came across a large wooden door with the words "Library" posted above it in large golden letters.

"Everything here seems to be in excellent shape for something that has been around for over 800 years."

Naruto opened the door. "Yeah, preservation seals are absolutely everywhere in this place. They're even built into the walls and stuff. Every single bit of furniture has at least one in it. Welcome to the library."

As Naruto opened the door, Hiruzen saw an extremely large golden brown/caramel library with countless books, shelves, and stairways presumably leading to even more sections of the library going in every direction including the ceiling.

In addition, he also noticed many of Naruto's shadow clones studying many open books at the front tables with even more stacks of books next to them. There were also clones coming out of multiple different staircases with more books to read.

"This is truly incredible Naruto. This library is much larger than any library in Konoha. What are all of your clones studying?"

Naruto stood proudly. "You bet! The Konoha libraries have nothing on mine! All of my clones are looking for stuff about seals. A few of them are looking at references of crystal style, but not many."

"I see. Seals area very complex art, were you compelled to study them due to your heritage?" He asked with genuine curiosity.

"Well yeah, but that's not all. It's also because of the thing that my clones found today." Naruto stated, pointing at the open space in the wall. "It's right back there. Follow me."

Once they had reached the room with the orb in it, Naruto stopped and pointed at the two clones stationed there. "You two can dispel, Jiji is here."

"OK Boss have fun with this thing. Hey Jiji!"

"Hello Narutos." Hiruzen said before they dispelled.

Hiruzen surveyed the large turquoise orb. "Interesting. I understand some of these seals, but many of them are far beyond my range of knowledge."

Naruto's head drooped. "Aww. Which ones do you know?"

Hiruzen put his hands on his chin once again. "Well I recognize the chakra absorption seals. Also tied in with them seem to be range amplifiers. It also contains many highly compressed preservation seals that seem to have kept this in stasis for many years. It is possible that it was activated when you discovered the chambers. In addition, there are also many highly advanced chakra storage seals that store the chakra that is absorbed by the chakra absorption seals. I faintly recognize some seals that seem to be chakra emitters that are sending out the chakra that is stored. I don't know what it is being sent to though."

Naruto shook his head. "Nah that's plenty. It's way more than I got anyway, so that's really helpful. It supports my theory of it being a power source. Also where is it getting the chakra from? Me? I haven't noticed any chakra drains, and I read up already on how to notice them."

"No. The range amplifiers are extremely powerful. More powerful than what would be needed for just the chambers. I can't be sure due to my inexperience in seals, but it seems that they could possibly even drain from a fairly large portion of Konoha. Although the fact that you are not being drained is strange. They are clearly active, but I suppose that there could be some kind of seal that makes a perimeter around the chambers be immune to the effects."

Naruto was slightly worried now. "Wait. It might be draining chakra from people in Konoha? That's bad."

"Well yes, but the part of the seal that dictates the rate of chakra that is drained is extremely low. It barely even drains a slight amount of chakra, so no one in Konoha would notice it, not even me. I believe that the sheer amount of people being drained makes up for the lack in power."

Naruto sighed in relief. "Oh good. I thought that we probably shouldn't touch it. It probably has tons of security all over it."

Hiruzen nodded. "I concur. Among the many seals here I also vaguely recognize specific summoning seals, although they are drastically differ from those that are used today."

At that moment, one of Naruto's clones came rushing in. "Boss! Boss! Come see this. It's something about the crystal style."

Both Naruto and Hiruzen quickly made their way to the area that the clone lead them to.

A clone sitting at a table waved them over. "L-Look at this boss."

Naruto took the scroll and read it slowly. "Huh. That's why we couldn't find any jutsu."

"What is it Naruto? Is it techniques?"

"Nah. It's a book of the Order's allies. It says here that there was a group in the Uzumaki clan that possessed the crystal style. Any records of techniques or training methods would have been in the section about either the Uzumaki clan or allies of the Order in general. Apparently it was hereditary….." Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

"What is it Naruto? Is something wrong?"

"J-JIJI! T-The bloodline is hereditary…I-In the Uzumaki Royalty ya know!" Naruto exclaimed disbelievingly.

Hiruzen acted slightly surprised, but he wasn't entirely caught off guard.

'Ah. That makes sense. Kushina-chan was the princess of the Uzumaki clan, so it makes sense. I suppose that it is possible that the bloodline skipped enough generations to not have shown up since before the start of Konohagakure.' He reasoned within his own mind. 'Well I suppose that even if I don't tell him, he'll figure it out eventually. What to do about the topic of his father though?'

"Ah well…..yes Naruto. I believe that we should sit down for this discussion. You may not be very happy with me by the end of this." Hiruzen requested softly before sitting down.

Naruto hesitated, but still sat down. All of his clones were also now listening, having abandoned their scrolls and books. "What's up old man? Do you know something about this?" Naruto said in a slightly hopeful yet slightly worried tone.

"…..Yes Naruto. Actually this has to do with your mother."

Naruto faltered. "My…..mom? I-I thought that you said she was dead. You knew her?"

"I am sorry Naruto, but your Mother is dead. However I did know her."

Naruto leaned forward. "Who was she then?! I get that you never told me because of the whole Uzumaki thing, but why not her?"

"Naruto…..Your mother was Kushina Uzumaki, the princess of the Uzumaki clan…..and the previous Jinchuuriki of the Nine-tailed fox."

"T-The princess? I don't understand. She was the last Jinchuuriki of the nine-tails? I thought the nine-tails just came and rampaged on the village. How did it get out of mom? She didn't let it out did she?"

"No! No Naruto Kushina did not let out the nine-tails on purpose. She loved Konoha very much." Hiruzen sighed. "You see Naruto…when a female Jinchuuriki gives birth, all of the chakra that is normally focused on keeping the seal stable goes towards the baby. The extraction of a tailed beast kills the host. Her case was no different."

"So the seal weakened too much and the Nine-tails got out?" Naruto asked in a worried tone.

Hiruzen shook his head. "Impossible. The seal holding the nine-tails in Kushina was created by the wife of the first Hokage, and the birth was being overseen by the fourth Hokage himself, who was a seal master even far better than my student Jiraiya, who is the current seal master of Konoha. The first Hokage's wife was the only person in recorded history to surpass his skill. There must have been an outside source that forced the nine-tails out, however thus far I have not been able to find out what."

Naruto put his head in his hands. "So someone else made the nine-tails attack Konoha?"

"Someone, something, I'm not quite sure. The fourth didn't have time to tell me before he died. However there was one large detail that was quite noticeable. One that may narrow down who caused the event. However it may have been a diversion from the real culprit. I have no physical evidence, so I can't prove anything yet."

Naruto jerked up. "What? What is it?"

"…For the first part of the fight against the nine-tails before Minato teleported it away to fight it…..the nine-tails had the Sharingan."

Naruto was silent for a few seconds before speaking again. "Oh…So it was an Uchiha then?"

"Possibly."

"You mean probably."

"…..Yes. Probably. However we can't allow that to cloud our minds. We must keep an open mind about the other possibilities as well."

If there was one thing that Hiruzen didn't want, it was for Naruto to become hateful and spiteful against the Uchiha like Tobirama.

"So that person probably killed my mom? Whoever let the nine-tails free? They killed her?" Naruto said angrily with his hair covering his eyes.

Hiruzen sighed. "Yes Naruto. Whoever let the nine-tails free killed your mother."

"And my father? Who was he? Was he even around?"

"Your father loved Kushina to the end. He was there when she gave birth." Hiruzen said sadly. 'Please don't hate him for this Naruto.'

"So who was he? What did he do? Who do I take after? I've been waiting for 12 years Jiji. Please."

Hiruzen hesitated. 'Is it the right time to tell him? He may be too grief stricken. Although he may hate me more if I don't tell him. I need to make things right. If he has been hiding these things from me for this long, he can hide this too.'

"Naruto…..your father….was the fourth Hokage. Minato Namikaze."

Naruto stiffened considerably. "What?"

"Your father was the fourth Hokage. He loved you and Kushina to his death, and he gave his life for you and the people of Konoha to live on. He chose you to bear the burden of the nine-tails because he knew that his and Kushina's child would be strong enough to hold that weight. He couldn't ask someone else to give up their own child. You have to understand that it hurt him to seal the nine-tails inside of you just as much as it hurts you."

Naruto rose from his sadness with a smile on his face and tears streaming down it. "So my parents loved me right? Mom and dad cared? They didn't leave me, and they sacrificed themselves for me right?"

Hiruzen smiled lightly. "…Yes Naruto. Both Minato and Kushina loved you with everything they had. They were both extraordinary people and I'm sorry that they were taken away from you so quickly. You should never had to have experienced what you did."

"Thanks Jiji. For all of this, and for taking care of me for all these years."

The elderly man shook his head. "I can't say that I did a very good job of keeping you safe. Minato's last wish was that you would be considered a hero, but you can see how well that turned out."

Naruto chuckled. "Nah, you did fine. I'm still here aren't I?" Naruto rubbed the tears from his eyes. "And who knows? If people saw me as a hero I might have grown up to be some stuck-up snobby kid."

"I suppose that you are correct, that is a possibility. So will you be staying here again or will you stay with us at the Sarutobi compound? I would like to make things up to you by providing you with a real family for once. It's time that I really start to make things right." Hiruzen smiled widely. Naruto's will of fire burned strong. There was never any doubt.

Naruto smiled back with his trademark wide smile. "Sure thing Jiji!"

Before they could say anything else, Naruto perked up again. "Hey Jiji, tell me stories about mom and dad!"

"Haha, very well Naruto. There are many stories that I could tell, and we won't even get close to talking about all of them today."

 ***~~~Scene Change! (Sorta)~~~***

 **The Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, Thursday, October 11** **th** **, 284th** **Day of the Academy Year, 7:00 PM**

Hiruzen laughed heartily. "And you wouldn't believe some of the things that your father named his techniques!" He said, almost not being able to speak from the laughter. "My personal favorite was his "Spiralling Flash Super Round Dance Howl Style Three". I apologize Naruto, but your father had almost no sense for naming techniques. The name for the Hiraishin was already created by Tobirama-sensei, and even the rasengan is simply called spiralling sphere. Kushina-chan actually had to force him to change it from the Spiralling Sphere of Magnificent Tearing Force and Power – First Step."

"H-Hey! That sounds kinda cool though ya know!" Naruto defended. Naruto simply had to defend his father's honor. Not to mention the Fourth had been his hero for his entire life.

Hiruzen somehow managed to look skeptical while still laughing. "Oh come now Naruto. The only parts about that that sound good is the rasengan part and the first step. Thank god he never completed the rasengan. With the plan he had in mind, he was intending to call it the Spinning Whirlwind Vortex Cellular Breakdown Shuriken Jutsu. You can't even begin to defend that one."

"I mean, that sounds OK. He probably would have made a better one when he finished it ya know!"

Hiruzen simply continued to laugh with tears in his eyes. "Perhaps one day if you learn to use the Hiraishin, we will see if you inherited the naming sense from your father! You already seem to have inherited your mother's verbal tic!"

 ***~~~Scene Change!~~~***

 **The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato, Friday, October 12** **th** **, 285** **th** **Day of the Academy Year, 8:00 AM**

After the events of the previous night, Naruto and Sarutobi had arrived back at the Sarutobi clan late, which resulted in Hiruzen getting a scolding from his daughter.

They had spent hours of Hiruzen telling stories about Naruto's parents and reminiscing. It was refreshing for Hiruzen as well as Naruto. He didn't often get a chance to wind down and have fun due to his job as Hokage, and he certainly didn't have the pleasure of telling stories of Minato and Kushina to someone with clearance about the topic who hadn't already heard them before.

Now Naruto was sitting at his desk in the classroom waiting for class to start. Sasuke walked in at the last minute and sat down next to Naruto.

He trusted Sasuke of course, but with the reveal of the apparent Uchiha controlling the nine-tails he was somewhat uncomfortable.

He leaned over and spoke to Sasuke. "Hey Sasuke, you know a lot about the Sharingan right?"

Sasuke looked surprised that Naruto would bring up the topic. "Of course. It's practically my duty at this point."

"Alright. Do you know if the Sharingan is capable of controlling a living thing? Like a fully intelligent being?"

"Hmm. Well I suppose that a powerful Sharingan user could further use the hypnosis ability to control a powerful beast, yeah. What for?"

Naruto moved back and shrugged. "Nothing much, just wondering. I heard someone boasting that Konoha was super great because the Sharingan could tame a tailed beast."

At this, Sasuke got somewhat defensive. "I bet they were talking about the nine-tails. People think that an Uchiha controlled it and made it attack out of anger against the segregation that had been set in place by the second Hokage."

Naruto played dumb and tilted his head. "Well couldn't it? Isn't it possible that the Sharingan could do it?"

"Not you too Naruto! You don't actually think that an Uchiha did it do you?!"

Naruto put up his hands defensively. "Well I'm not saying it for sure or anything. But weren't there rouge Uchiha shinobi too? There are rouge shinobi from all of the main clans in Konoha. I'm not saying that an Uchiha inside of Konoha did it. I was just curious I swear!"

Sasuke settled down again. "Alright then. Just as long as you don't actually think that. The Uchiha clan is a proud clan no matter what anyone says."

Naruto nervously laughed softly. "Alright sorry. I didn't meant to imply anything."

Naruto would have to do more research, but it was clear that Sasuke wouldn't be willing to help too much.

 **Hey guys! I apologize for the wait for this chapter. It is a bit shorter than normal, but I felt like it was a good place to stop. Honestly I considered cutting out the last scene and just putting it in the next chapter, but the next chapter is going to skip right ahead to the last week of the academy to show the 4** **th** **quarter tournament and graduation. BTW the final tournament is going to be slightly different than the other three, but the main principles will be the same.**

 **•As I said before, Naruto in this story will be strong. It doesn't mean that he is going to be a jounin level ninja right out of the academy, but it does mean that he will have variation early on and he will know how to use his skills. I always found it odd that sometimes Naruto was shown to have immense potential or clear ability in things that are beyond human capabilities at some times, but then be an absolute failure at everything the next. It just doesn't make sense.**

 **•I would like to remind everyone that a summoning clan has been chosen already, and even if it won't appear for a while, I have plans for it. I can't wait for the chunin exams. That is where the real fun starts. Also the pastel arc. (Tell me if you get that reference.)**

 **Honestly I put all of the important notes at the beginning so I don't really have much to say here other than thank you for reading, and I hope that you continue to follow this story. As always, please feel free to inform me if you think that anything is wrong or if I have any grammar errors. Also feel free to tell me if you disagree with something that I have done, but please communicate it in a polite and civil manner.**

 **Bye! Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7: The Starting Line

**Author's Note:** Welcome back everyone! I present to you, the 7th chapter of The True Child of Light. I'm super glad that you guys liked the last chapter. This chapter is what all of you have been waiting for. The graduation chapter. Now I can finally stop numbering every day that I write and actually following a proper schedule. You don't even know how much of a bitch and a half that is. I AM FREE! I actually ended up deleting about half of this chapter when I was almost done because it was badly written, so I had to take more time. As an apology, I made this chapter much longer than the rest.

 **Disclaimer:** Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the official release.

 **Important Notes:**

• The tournament this time around is going to be a bit bigger because it is going to be both boys and girls. There are 24 students total, and the matches were all completely randomized. Clearly I decided the outcome, but who fights who and who is on what side of the bracket is completely random. I have it all written out before I am even writing it, so it is completely fair. I will not be showing all of the fights and explaining them, but for the ones containing some main characters, I will give a summary. The only one that will be in full detail is the semi-final, plus one other that is a given. I hope that this chapter gives some insight on the fact that Naruto isn't immune to being surprised or outsmarted with his first match.

• Once again, I am going to state that certain things will still be in Japanese and certain people will still use Honorifics.

• I apologize to those of you that I had spoken to before over PM, but I have decided that I will not be giving Naruto a custom weapon. He will still be getting a weapon though, but it will be a little bit later on. Some of you may not like how he gets it though. It is certainly unique though.

• Sasuke has lots of chakra too in this. Not as much as Naruto, but he is much more skilled at using what he has efficiently as is shown in canon.

• I would just like to note that later down the line, this story may get somewhat darker. Not edgy by any means, but there will be some more serious parts. It is also important to remember that I will be writing this realistically. Not everything is going to go the way of the main characters. Shit will happen. For example something good could happen to Naruto or he could get a cool thing, but then in the next chapter or later something else could happen that could take that away from him.

He isn't just going to gain a ton of stuff and never lose anything. I know for a fact that in a chapter or two he will lose a certain something and all of you are going to be like "Oh but he just got that! It isn't fair that he lost that so suddenly! There was no buildup or suggestion toward it!" or something like that.

What you have to realize that realistically, there won't always be things that suggest the loss of something. People won't always have death flags raised around them to suggest that they will die. In real life you could talk to someone one day and they would be fine, then the next day you could find out that they died in a tragic accident.

Without further ado, I present to you the 7th chapter of The True Child of Light.

"Shut it teme." – Regular speech

 _'Baka!'_ – Internal thoughts

 _:Shannaro!:_ – Inner Sakura

 _-Random book mumbo jumbo stuff-_ –Books

 **"I swear I'm going to eat you brat."** – Bijuu talking

 ** _'Hmm. The kid isn't half bad.'_** – Bijuu thinking

 **"Katon: Goukakakyuu no Jutsu!"** (Fire release: Great Fireball Technique) – Jutsu

 **Chapter 7: The Starting Line**

 **Uchiha Training Grounds, Konoha Outskirts, Monday, November 19** **th** **, 323** **rd** **Day of the Academy Year, 6:00 PM**

Naruto and Sasuke were currently sparring in the Uchiha training grounds. Sasuke had been reluctant to allow anyone in for a long time, but Naruto had eventually convinced Sasuke otherwise.

Naruto had been slowly pressing Sasuke for a few minutes now due to his higher stamina.

Sasuke drew a blunted kunai and rushed towards Naruto, who responded by taking out his own kunai and blocking before shoving Sasuke back.

"Getting serious now eh Sasuke?"

"As if. We both know that neither of us are close to going all out."

For another ten minutes, the two danced around the training field in an evenly matched fight.

Sasuke was beginning to get extremely tired, and Naruto was feeling the fatigue as well.

Sasuke attempted to sprint towards Naruto to jab with his kunai, but he tripped over his own feet and fell towards Naruto, who had also been rushing towards Sasuke.

Naruto's kunai was approaching. Getting closer and closer to Sasuke's face. His eyes. His right eye. It was almost there. Even with a blunted kunai, it would severely damage Sasuke's eye.

Time seemed to slow for Sasuke. He saw Naruto's movements as if they were much slower than usual. Sasuke was able to analyze the situation and lean out of the way before he was hit, and jumped away.

Naruto dropped his kunai and pointed towards Sasuke. "Sasuke! Your eyes!"

"What about them Naruto? You didn't even touch my eyes."

Naruto pulled out one of his sharper kunai with more shine and walked towards Sasuke. He placed the blade in front of Sasuke's face so that he could see his reflection.

Sasuke's eyes were different than they normally were. They were now red with a single tomoe in each of them. He had unlocked the Sharingan.

"T-The Sharingan? I unlocked the Sharingan?!"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah! That's awesome Sasuke!"

Sasuke lost control of himself. "Awesome! I finally got them! I can't wait for them to be fully evolved!"

 **The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato, Friday, November 23** **rd** **, 327** **th** **Day of the Academy Year, 12:00 PM**

Everyone was currently stretching and getting ready for the 4th student tournament of the year when Iruka came out with a clipboard and pen.

"Alright everyone! The bracket for the tournament has been randomized and set! This tournament will be a mixed one with both boys and girls participating at the same time. There are two sides of the bracket that eventually meet in the middle." He yelled so that everyone would hear.

He pointed to a large bracket posted on a board. "Here are the matchups! Will the first fighters please step forward?"

 **FIRST ROUND**

 **-Akira vs Hinata-**

Although Akira put up a decent fight, Hinata was efficiently able to close her opponent's chakra points in her legs and force her to forfeit.

 **WINNER- Hinata**

 **-Toshihiro vs Hori-**

Toshihiro was able to quickly overpower Hori with brute strength to end the fight and move to the next round.

 **WINNER- Toshihiro**

 **-Takeshi vs Shino-**

The fight was fairly simple. Takeshi rushed Shino early in an attempt to finish the fight quickly. Shino simply blocked the entire time while secretly having his Kikaichū drain Takeshi's chakra slowly until he became slightly sluggish and allowed for Shino to end the fight swiftly.

 **WINNER- Shino**

 **-Shikamaru vs Haruki-**

Haruki darted around the arena throwing blunted shuriken and kunai at Shikamaru, having already known about his Nara clan techniques. However Shikamaru was able to stretch his shadow out from the tree line behind Haruki and take her by surprise.

 **WINNER- Shikamaru**

 **-Ino vs Naruto-**

Naruto and Ino took their places on either side of the arena and readied themselves. As much as it pained her to say it, Ino knew that she didn't have much of a chance in straight forward fighting against Naruto, so her plan was to try to catch him in her mind transfer jutsu and force him to give up the match.

'Hehe. I'm glad that me passing out from the mind transfer jutsu doesn't count as a loss or I wouldn't have a chance at this.' Ino sneered internally. 'Sorry Naruto, but I have to win this to impress Sasuke-kun.'

Unfortunately even after Iruka had arranged for a new Jounin named Kurenai to come by and speak to the girls in the class about the kunoichi lifestyle and what it actually meant, very few of them really took it to heart. After that Iruka simply tried his best to teach them what he could before they took their test. At least very few of them who thought that being a kunoichi was all fun and games would get filtered out by the real Genin exam.

Iruka slowly raised his hand and held it at the top. "Fighters ready?"

"Hai." Came the voices of both competitors.

"Very well then. HAJIME!" Iruka yelled, shooting his hand downward and jumping away.

Naruto immediately gathered wind chakra in his hands and slammed them together.

 **"Gale Palm Jutsu!"**

Ino attempted to jump to the side to dodge it. She was mostly successful, except that the jutsu clipped her shoulder and sent her slightly off course. However she was still able to stabilize and land without any damage done.

Naruto began to run towards Ino with a zig zag pattern to quickly reach her before she could do anything. Luckily for Ino, she was one of the few Kunoichi who began to take her training a little bit more seriously. That meant that she knew that a ninja sometimes had to use dirty tricks to win. In this case, quite literally.

Ino took two clumps of dirt in her hand and waited for Naruto to get close before throwing them straight at his eyes. He was able to avoid most of it, but it was somewhat unexpected so it caught him slightly off guard.

Before Naruto could recover, Ino threw a handful of small spikes on the ground around Naruto to stall him.

Apparently dirt in the eyes gave the user much more time than expected, especially if the dirt actually went behind an eyelid. This gave Ino enough time to quickly fly through the three hand seals for the clone jutsu and produce a clone right in front of her.

This also allowed her to run around to his right side and begin flowing through the hand seals for the Yamanaka Mind Transfer jutsu.

By the time Naruto had rubbed the dirt from his eyes, he had already started to jump towards the clone of Ino to attack with a strong kick. Unfortunately he didn't have enough time to register that it was a clone, and his leg flew straight through it.

 **"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"** Ino yelled as she finished the final hand seal and slumped over. Her consciousness flew towards Naruto, and by the time he realized what was happening and regained his footing, he had been hit with the jutsu which caused his eyes to glaze over.

Ino performed a fist pump, having confirmed that she had entered Naruto's mindscape. "Hell yeah! Take that top spot in the class! Take that Sakura! Wow. Naruto's mind would be a sewer." However, before Ino could actually take full control of Naruto's mind, a gravelly dark voice reverberated throughout Naruto's mindscape.

 **"Hey kids! Wanna see a dead body?"**

Ino jumped up in surprise. "AGH! Naruto? How the hell did you do that? I should have control of your mind! You shouldn't be able to communicate with me unless I let you!" She yelled confusedly.

 **"Foolish child. I am not Naruto Uzumaki. However I do not appreciate you attempting to take over his mind. I do have appearances to keep after all. I can't allow a pesky mind walker to best my host. Especially after all the work that he has put in to prevent situations like this. Goodbye foolish human. I will leave you with this."**

Ino felt an approaching presence quickly rushing up behind her. Before she could turn around however, she felt an intense pain like nothing else. The pain caused all of her bad memories to surface all at once and caused a wave of sorrow and sadness to wash over her. Every dead relative, every moment when she got bullied, every fight with her parents, and any sad memories at all were played in her head.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

She was quickly forced out of Naruto's mindscape and back into her own body. When she came to, Naruto was still standing up and had fully regained control of his body. He was about to jump towards Ino when she screamed out.

"I forfeit! I give up! Iruka-sensei don't make me fight him! He's not normal!" She screamed in terror while crying.

Naruto tilted his head. "Huh?"

Iruka jumped into the ring and picked up Ino to get her out of the arena quickly. "Ino Yamanaka loses by forfeit! Naruto Uzumaki will advance to the next round!"

Iruka set Ino down next to the other girls. Ino continued to weep and shake while looking down at the ground.

Surprisingly, Sakura was the first one to turn and yell at Naruto. "What the hell did you do to her Naruto?! You're horrible!"

Naruto stepped forward. "W-What? I didn't do anything! I just blanked out for a minute and when I came to she was crying. I swear ya know!"

"As if! I bet you did some freaky jutsu and scared her!" She yelled back. "Shhhh. It's going to be alright Ino. You're safe now."

Iruka quickly cleared the spikes from the arena and waved Naruto back to the crowd.

"Ahem….. Will the next two fighters please come up?"

 **WINNER- Naruto**

 **-Hideki vs Yasuko-**

 **WINNER- Yasuko**

 **-Megumi vs Kimi-**

 **WINNER- Megumi**

 **-Suzume vs Shizuko-**

 **WINNER- Suzume**

"Alright everyone! That's it for the first round! Will those who have not fought yet and the winners of the last rounds please separate from the losers and form a new group! We have a five minute break before continuing!" Iruka ordered.

They did so and everyone sat down to drink water or socialize.

Sasuke and Kiba walked over to Naruto and sat down next to him Sasuke addressed Naruto first.

"What happened over there anyway? She got you with her mind transfer jutsu and a few seconds later she was on the ground crying."

Naruto shook his head. "I don't know! I just blanked out and before I knew it she was crying ya know!"

"Hm. Alright then."

Five minutes later Iruka walked back into the center of the arena and spoke.

"Alright everyone break time is over! Will the first two competitors please step up?"

 **-Akemi vs Hinata**

Once again Hinata simply shut down her opponent's chakra points as quickly as she could. Unfortunately Akemi was one of the more loyal Sasuke fangirls which caused her to not focus on training as much as she should.

 **WINNER- Hinata**

 **-Toshihiro vs Rie-**

 **WINNER- Toshihiro**

 **-Sakura vs Shino-**

This fight went as expected. Sakura was also one of if not the most dedicated Sasuke fan ever, so she also neglected her studies and eating choices in favor of looking better and dieting. Shino began with a simple line of "I apologize Haruno-san.", and he quickly knocked Sakura out of the ring after scaring her with the thought of having bugs crawling all over her.

 **WINNER- Shino**

 **-Shikamaru vs Choji-**

As soon as the fight began, Shikamaru rose his hand and gave up. He gave the reasoning that winning his first fight was good enough to pass and he didn't want to fight his best friend.

 **WINNER- Choji**

 **-Kiba vs Naruto-**

Kiba and Naruto both took their places at either end of the field and got in their respective stances. This time around, Kiba was allowed to bring Akamaru into the fight with him.

"Sorry Naruto, but this is the day that I finally beat you! I can't let you upstage me even at the end!" Kiba yelled confidently, followed by a supportive yip of approval from Akamaru next to Kiba.

Naruto smiled. "I look forward to it Akamaru! Let's have a good match!" He yelled across the arena.

A small sputter of laughter was heard from the crowd that sounded strangely like Sasuke, but there was no actual evidence of who it was, so everyone dismissed it.

Iruka rose his hand. "Fighters ready?"

"Hai"

"Very well then. HAJIME!"

Kiba instantly crouched down on all fours.

 **"Beast Mimicry: All-Fours Jutsu!"**

Chakra began to stream off of Kiba into the air, powering him up to prepare for the fight. Kiba knew that he couldn't hold back against Naruto today. The all-fours jutsu grants animal-like accelerated fighting instinct and reflexes to the user.

Kiba rushed towards Naruto, weaving side to side in rhythm with Akamaru.

Naruto crossed his finger and summoned 10 clones in front of him and at his sides.

The 6 in front of him all performed a joint shield jutsu to create a wall of chakra between Naruto and Kiba. Unfortunately they weren't given enough time to fully erect the shield, so it was only half done by the time Kiba reached it. With a few quick claw swipes, he was able to destroy the shield in the middle.

However this still gave Naruto an adequate amount of time to fly through hand seals and release his jutsu.

 **"Great Breakthrough Jutsu!"** He yelled, puffing up his chest and letting loose a tremendous wave of wind that destroyed all of the clones in front of him and blowing Kiba and Akamaru back to the other side of the arena and knocking them on their backs.

Naruto slammed his hands on the ground. **"Hiding Like a Mole Jutsu!"**

Naruto began to quickly dig underground before it sealed back up again. Above ground there were still four shadow clones prepared to unleash their own jutsu.

However before any of them could do so, Kiba and a newly transformed Akamaru slammed into two of them each and caused them to dispel. Kiba channeled chakra to his nose and located Naruto digging underground. He sensed Naruto quickly advancing straight towards him and stood ready for him.

Naruto popped out of the ground to Kiba's right. He aimed a spinning kick with his right leg straight at Kiba's head. Due to knowing that Naruto was coming, Kiba was able to bring his arms up quickly and block the kick easily.

Without hesitation, Naruto twisted his body forward and grabbed Kiba's arm. He lowered his leg and brought his body around to Kiba's back, forcing Kiba's body to go along with it. He wrapped his legs around Kiba's waist and brought his arms around his neck into a choke hold.

Kiba was really starting to hate Naruto's taijutsu style. He would constantly swear that it was made specifically to piss him off. Grapples and chokes were some of the most annoying things to deal with in a straight up taijutsu fight.

Luckily for Kiba, he had a partner to help him out this time.

Akamaru jumped forward and swiped his transformed hand across Naruto's back.

Kiba grinned. "Gotcha."

However Kiba's celebration was cut short when the Naruto on his back burst into smoke. "A shadow clone?!"

Naruto jumped out from the ground to Kiba's left now. "Surprise bitch!" He yelled as he hit Kiba clean across the face with a staff of rock.

Once again Kiba fell back and held the side of his head.

Meanwhile Naruto also twisted around and smacked Akamaru, forcing him to transform back into his normal form.

"Akamaru!" Kiba reached out.

Kiba stood up and jumped towards Naruto and beginning to rotate violently.

 **"Passing Fang!"**

Kiba landed a hit directly on Naruto's front and sent him flying across the arena, tearing Naruto's shirt somewhat in the process.

"Akamaru are you alright?"

Kiba received a confirming bark in response.

"Alright then! Let's go all out Akamaru!" Kiba yelled as he got back into his all-fours position.

Akamaru leapt on his back and they were both engulfed in a puff of chakra smoke.

When the smoke cleared, Akamaru had been transformed into Kiba.

 **"Man Beast Clone!"**

Naruto staggered to his feet and steadied himself.

Kiba and Akamaru were already rushing towards Naruto.

 **"Man-Beast Ultimate Taijutsu: Fang Over Fang!"**

Two giant streams of violent rotating mass flew towards Naruto and hit him from both sides and crossing each other. However it didn't stop there, the two doubled back and continued to bombard Naruto non-stop with a flurry of high speed attacks.

Naruto was being tossed around like a ragdoll, not being able to respond. 'Can't…..do anything. Gotta think of something quick!'

Much like many other fights between the two, Iruka seriously considered stopping the fight, but always decided against it because he knew that they would probably be fine in the end.

However the constant damage being done to Naruto didn't allow him time to think.

At that moment, Naruto unconsciously began to gather both earth and wind chakras and all of a sudden released a large surge of his crystal chakra from his body.

Naruto felt the barrage stop and he opened his eyes. There was a small dome shaped around Naruto made of pink crystal protecting him from Kiba's technique. Outside Kiba and Akamaru stopped attacking and just stared at the crystal construct.

Naruto looked around at the crystal that he had accidentally made. "Huh. I guess I never thought about just making a big dome. Well shit, I guess the secret is out now."

"What the hell is this Naruto!?" Kiba yelled loudly from outside.

"Well I guess now that you've seen it, there's no need to hold back anymore ya know!"

Naruto grew crystal armor onto himself for protection and prepared himself for battle.

He then formed a few hand seals and let the dome shatter.

 **"Crystal God Rain!"** Naruto yelled as he finished his hand seals.

About 50 clear crystal shuriken formed in the air around Naruto and began to spin rapidly. He waved his hands forward and they all shot straight toward Kiba and Akamaru.

The two were able to dodge or deflect some of the shuriken, but they were far too widespread for them to deal with every single one. Many of them whizzed by and slashed Kiba all over and caused shallow cuts to form.

Naruto didn't stop, he quickly wove more hand seals.

 **"Crystal Needles!"**

Multiple large and sharp needles of Pink crystal formed and shot into the ground all around Kiba and Akamaru, trapping him in place.

Seeing that Kiba could no longer fight, Iruka called the match.

"Kiba Inuzuka can no longer fight! Naruto Uzumaki wins!"

Naruto let the crystals shatter and jumped into the air in joy. "Yatta! I did it ya know!"

 **WINNER- Naruto**

Iruka shook his head disbelievingly. "Naruto you never disappoint. Will the next fighters please step up?"

Naruto skipped over to Sasuke and sat down.

Sasuke faced him with a completely bewildered face. "What the hell was that Naruto!? You can make crystals?!"

Naruto considered his answer for a moment, then smiled. "Hmmm. Yep! It's my Kekkei Genkai!"

"Kekkei Genkai!? You never told me anything about that!"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, Jiji told me that I should keep it a secret. That dome was an accident."

"I…..I don't even know why I'm surprised at this point. Any other secrets that you've got hidden away?"

"Yep!"

"Are you planning to tell me right now?"

"Nope!"

"Ugh." Sasuke shook his head and put his hand up to his forehead.

A faint "That's total bullshit!" was heard from Kiba as he was being tended to behind the crowd.

Naruto laughed for a moment, but then looked down in horror. "Oh shit! My clothes are absolutely ruined! Tenten is gonna kill me!"

 **-Yosuko vs Chikako-**

 **WINNER- Yosuko**

 **-Sasuke vs Megumi-**

Megumi literally gave up immediately. Apparently she couldn't bear to fight her "Sasuke-kun".

 **WINNER- Sasuke**

 **-Suzume vs Kouda**

 **WINNER- Kouda**

Iruka stepped forward. "Congratulations to everyone who passed the first round and won their matches! Take a ten minute break and meet back here!"

 **10 Minutes Later**

 **Second Round**

The students had all filed back into the groups and were ready to fight once again.

"Alright everyone, settle down. Will the two fighters in the first match please take your postions?"

 **-Hinata vs Toshihiro**

Toshihiro had the clear superior strength and size, but Hinata's fluid and quick movements proved to be far too much for him to handle after many of the chakra points in his legs and arms had been sealed.

The funny thing was that Hinata barely broke a sweat and politely asked Toshihiro to give up because she didn't want to hurt him any more than she had to, which resulted in a very embarrassing loss for him when he refused and he tripped over his own feet trying to rush her.

 **WINNER- Hinata**

 **-Shino vs Choji-**

Once again, Shino was able to dodge out of the way of most of Choji's attacks, only actually taking a couple of hits before drastically draining Choji of his chakra, causing him to forfeit. Choji had managed to make much more progress than anyone else who had fought him that day.

 **WINNER- Shino**

 **-Naruto vs Yosuko-**

Yosuko literally refused to go into the ring with Naruto. He won by default.

 **WINNER- Naruto**

 **-Sasuke vs Kouda-**

Kouda actually held his ground much better than had been expected of him thus far, although eventually Sasuke was able to pierce his guard and get a clean hit on Kouda's chest, causing him to get knocked out of the ring.

 **WINNER- Sasuke**

All remaining fighters took yet another ten minute break and met back for the semi-finals consisting of two fights.

 **-Hinata vs Shino-**

"HAJIME!"

Both Hinata and Shino deepened their stances and waited for the other to make a move.

Shino ran forward first and threw a few shuriken at either side of Hinata, causing her to have to weave to dodge out of the way and allow a slight opening. Shino took that opening to get a clean punch on her face and plant a few of his bugs on her.

Hinata then took the offensive and lunged towards Shino with a Jyuken strike. She managed to seal a few of his chakra points before he dodged out of the way and increased the distance between them.

From then on Shino stalled, using any long range attacks that he could to keep Hinata away. After a while his bugs had begun to breed and were able to siphon chakra from Hinata's hands and arms.

When Hinata lunged once again, she was surprised to find that she couldn't use her Jyuken style and was quickly incapacitated by Shino.

 **WINNER- Shino**

 **-Naruto vs Sasuke-**

Both Naruto and Sasuke dropped into their stances at either end of the arena and waited for the signal.

…

"HAJIME!"

Sasuke immediately let loose a barrage of Shuriken towards Naruto.

Naruto quickly wove his hand seals and slam his hands on the ground.

 **"Earth Style: Earth Wall Jutsu!"** A large wall of earth erected in front of Naruto and caught the shuriken.

Naruto immediately let the wall crumble so that it wouldn't obscure his vision of Sasuke. Sasuke was extremely close to Naruto and was about to reach him. "I've got you now Naruto!" Sasuke yelled as he completed his final hand sign.

 **"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"** Sasuke yelled before letting a huge ball of fire stream out of his mouth towards Naruto.

Naruto barely dodged and got a bit of his pants seared off.

Naruto shot straight towards Sasuke and aimed a kick at his back. Sasuke's back bent somewhat from the powerful kick.

Sasuke twisted around and grabbed Naruto's leg. He pushed Naruto's leg upwards and disrupted his movement before rushing in and jabbing at Naruto's face.

Naruto took the hit straight to the face and flew back a few meters before skidding to a stop.

The two ran towards each other.

They both began to engage in pure taijutsu. Both of them were taking equal blows. For every hit that Sasuke delivered, Naruto fought back with another hit.

This went on for a full minute before the two of them jumped back, breathing heavily.

Naruto bent down and touched his hands to his ankles and wrists to release his weights. "It's time that I got serious Sasuke. We won't be getting anywhere if I have these on."

Surprisingly Sasuke did the same. "I agree Naruto. Today I'll finally prove that I can best you."

Naruto's eyebrow raised. "You have weights too Sasuke?"

Sasuke nodded. "I figured out what you had pretty fast, so I took a look around the Uchiha compound and found some weight seals."

Naruto grinned. "I have 1600. You?"

"1500. But I'll make up for that with this." Sasuke said as his eyes shifted to a red color. His eyes now each had two tomoe in them.

"Two now huh? I guess you've been doing some secret training too."

"Yeah, but let's stop stalling and get started."

Naruto nodded. "Get ready Sasuke."

Both Sasuke and Naruto disappeared and reappeared in the middle of the arena with one fist hit against the other.

They both disappeared again and were reappearing in different places across the field.

Kiba's eyes widened. "Iruka-sensei what's happening? Why are they so fast?!"

"I believe that they both train using weight seals to make themselves stronger and faster. It seems that they both had a considerably large amount of weight on them. It seems that Sasuke now possesses the Sharingan."

Back in the arena, Naruto and Sasuke were now more visible as they were tightly locked in a battle of taijutsu. All was silent in the arena except for the sounds of the two fighters hitting each other.

Even with the lowered weight, the two were still evenly matched. Even with Naruto's slightly superior speed, Sasuke was able to make up for his lack of speed with his enhanced perception that the Sharingan granted him.

Sasuke wrapped his arm around Naruto's and forced him to make a hand seal, and continued to do so until his jutsu was finished.

Snake.

Ram.

Monkey.

Boar.

Horse.

Tiger.

Sasuke broke off from Naruto and jumped back.

 **"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"**

Sasuke breathed out a massive orb of roaring flame at Naruto.

The flame engulfed Naruto as a collective gasp was heard from the crowd.

When the fire died down, Sasuke saw the form of a hardened and crumbling earth clone.

Naruto jumped out from underneath the earth and delivered a hard uppercut to Sasuke's jaw.

Sasuke back flipped back and skid to a stop on all fours.

Sasuke smirked and stood up, bringing his hands up in front of him and yanking them back while crossing his arms.

Naruto was taken by surprise as he was caught by multiple strings of ninja wire and was pulled towards Sasuke.

Sasuke took the chance to wind up the ninja wire and let it drop down. He began to form hand seals once again.

 **"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"** Sasuke yelled before exhaling multiple small fireballs and shooting them around at Naruto and throwing multiple shuriken into the mix.

Naruto was seemingly pierced by multiple flaming shuriken before a poof of smoke enveloped him. When it cleared, a tied up log was in place of Naruto.

Naruto appeared behind Sasuke and took out multiple kunai. He threw one at each corner around Sasuke in a square formation.

The kunai began to glow before exploding violently around Sasuke.

Sasuke managed to barely jump away in time as to not get caught in the explosion and began to form hand seals and gather oil in his mouth.

 **"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"** A large bullet of flame shot out of Sasuke's mouth and headed towards Naruto.

Naruto flew through four hand seals slammed his hands on the ground.

 **"Earth Release: Multiple Earth-Style Wall!"** Three stone walls with the Uzumaki clan symbol engraved in them rose together to block the bullet of fire.

The quickly made earth wall intercepted the flame bullet as it contacted the earth and exploded. Chunks of rock flew in almost every direction, but Naruto was protected from the opposing jutsu nonetheless.

Sasuke however didn't stop there. By the time Naruto recovered, he had already readied his next technique.

He took out two kunai and pushed lightning chakra into them. He threw them at Naruto with a flick of his wrist.

Naruto attempted to deflect the first kunai with his own when his was sliced slightly and thrown out of his hand. The second kunai tore across his left shoulder with the passing lightning energy, but not enough to do any serious damage due to Naruto being able to dodge it mostly.

Naruto took out his own three kunai and pushed wind chakra into them, throwing one at Sasuke and the other to Sasuke's left side, and one above his head, causing him to have to jump to his right side.

Naruto had already finished his next set of hand seals.

 **"Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!"** A wave of electricity shot out from his hands and collided with Sasuke, coursing through his body.

Kiba groaned from the crowd. "Uuuuugh. He has a jutsu of another element?!"

Iruka nodded. "It's quite impressive that it is a lightning jutsu as well. Assuming that his affinities are Wind and Earth seeing as Wind is strong against lightning and lightning is strong against earth. On the elemental wheel he has at least a slight disadvantage for Water, Fire, and Lightning, but Lightning is the only one with two disadvantages towards it for him. A water or fire technique most likely would have been easier to learn, although Naruto has said that he wants to learn at least some of all five elements so I suppose it makes sense to practice with what he will have the most trouble with."

As Sasuke was recovering and slightly twitching, Naruto unleashed yet another jutsu.

 **"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"**

A powerful torrent of wind flew straight towards Sasuke and blew him to the edge of the arena. It also blew down multiple people in the crowd.

Sasuke quickly stood up and threw multiple shuriken around Naruto.

"Is your aim really that bad Sasuke?! You're supposed to have good eyes!"

Sasuke smirked. "Think again Naruto!" Sasuke yelled as he crossed his arms and brought them back.

The shuriken turned in midair and headed straight for Naruto.

He was only able to block four shuriken and another two cut him across his legs.

"AGH! What the hell was that?!"

Naruto and Sasuke both positioned themselves at opposite sides of the arena. Both of them were extremely battered and bruised, and Naruto now sported two decently sized cuts in his thighs.

Naruto and Sasuke flew through hand seals quickly and released their jutsu.

 **"Earth Release: Earth and Stone Dragon!"** A large dragon made of compacted dirt and stone rose from the ground towards Sasuke.

 **"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"** Multiple twisting fire dragons flew out of Sasuke's mouth and began to shoot towards Naruto.

The elemental dragons clashed with each other. The three smaller fire dragons banded together to attempt to overpower the larger earth dragon. The fire eventually dissipated until there was only one left. The final fire dragon and the earth dragon collided which caused the last fire dragon to burn out and the earth dragon's head exploded and its body fell apart as well.

They both frowned at the failed attempt at the other.

"You did well up until now, but you can't stop this! Get ready Sasuke!"

"Then I'll do the same Naruto!"

Both of them began to shoot through numerous hand signs at immense speeds that were increased due to the lack of weight on their wrists.

Iruka's eyes widened. "EVERYBODY GET AWAY FROM THE ARENA! GET AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE!"

All students immediately began to sprint in the opposite direction while still trying to watch the fight.

Naruto and Sasuke both finished their hand seals at the same time.

 **"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"**

 **"Earth Release: Mudslide!"**

Sasuke began to spew a huge wave of fire from his mouth that covered the entire arena and much more while quickly advancing towards Naruto.

Naruto slammed his hands on the ground and the entire arena loosened and turned into a huge thick wave of dirt that blocked the fire jutsu and turned the surrounding ground into a quicksand-like substance, also catching a couple of trees from behind Naruto in the wave.

For nearly twenty seconds the two waves clashed and pushed at each other, the pure heat from the fire jutsu causing everyone watching to sweat, including Naruto and Sasuke.

Sasuke's fire died out first and Naruto's wave sunk back down into the ground as Naruto ceased to fuel the jutsu before solidifying back to its normal state again.

Both boys stood at the ends of the arena, breathing hard with bruised and beaten looks on them.

Naruto chuckled. "Heh. I'm almost out of chakra. I only have a little bit left. You?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I barely have any left at all. If either of us use any more chakra we'll suffer from severe chakra exhaustion."

"Then it's time to finish this Sasuke."

"Agreed."

The two once again ran straight at each other, however drastically slower than they had previously.

'This is my last move. I don't even know if I can pull this one off.'

Naruto leapt towards Sasuke and prepared for a punch.

Sasuke's Sharingan began to spin as he cast a small Genjutsu on Naruto, one that he wouldn't be able to detect or dispel right now.

Naruto was instantly trapped in the Genjutsu and his world began to distort.

Sasuke smirked as he began to fall from exhaustion. 'I win.'

Sasuke's smirk disappeared as soon as he saw Naruto still hurtling towards him. "Wha-"

He was cut off as Naruto's limp body came barreling into him and knocked him to the ground. The momentum from Naruto's earlier jump had kept him going, even though Naruto was no longer in control.

The hit caused Sasuke to lose control of the Genjutsu which released Naruto.

Sasuke and Naruto were now laying side by side in the middle of the arena, absolutely worn out and unable to move.

Sasuke spoke up. "Iruka-sensei. I forfeit. I can't go on anymore."

Naruto also slightly turned his head. "Me too. I can't move."

Iruka nodded. "Sasuke and Naruto both forfeit! The match is a tie!"

 **TIE**

Iruka spoke again. "Due to both fighters dropping out, Shino Aburame wins the tournament!"

 ***~~~Scene Change!~~~***

 **Later That Day, Hokage's Office, Konohagakure no Sato, 2:00 PM**

Inoichi Yamanaka stood at attention in front of Hiruzen.

"What is it Inoichi?"

Inoichi stepped forward. "There was a troubling matter brought to my attention today by my daughter. As I understand it she was matched against Naruto Uzumaki in today's tournament." He explained. "When she managed to catch him in the mind transfer technique, she reported that she was confronted by a dark voice. It told her that it did not appreciate her attempting to control the mind of its host. It apparently then caused her to relive every bad memory she had and she reported feeling an intense pain."

Hiruzen's face darkened. "I assume that you believe the voice to have been the nine-tails?"

"Yes Hokage-sama. Ino also reported noticing that Naruto's mindscape took the form of a sewer. This would make sense if it reflected Naruto's past trauma and hidden sadness of being shunned. It would make sense for the nine-tails to manifest inside of Naruto's mindscape seeing as it is bonded with his chakra system."

"I see. Well I am glad that you brought this to my attention. I will see what I can do to get Naruto to practice travelling inside of his own mindscape so that he may be able to meet the nine-tails and figure all of this out."

 ***~~~Scene Change!~~~***

 **Later That Day, Council Meeting Room, Konohagakure no Sato, 4:00 PM**

"We demand that Naruto Uzumaki be placed under the Clan Restoration Act immediately so that we can cultivate the crystal release in Konoha! It will be a great military asset and we cannot afford to pass it up!" An elderly council member yelled with a smirk at the end.

Hiruzen took a puff of his pipe. "Denied."

"What?! You can't just deny it immediately! We are the council and it has been unanimously decided that Naruto Uzumaki be placed under the CRA!"

Not for the first time in this meeting, Hiruzen sighed. "Well there are four large reasons why I can and why putting Naruto under the CRA is a very unwise decision. First of all I would remind you that Konoha is a dictatorship, not a democracy. In the end my word is final and you are simply the civilian council which advises me. It is my choice to listen or not. If you would like to attempt to become Hokage, you may try. First you will have to become Genin and join my military force."

The smirks all around the council dropped. One member spoke up. "And the other three reasons?"

"Yes I am getting there thank you very much. Second, even if you did somehow manage to pass this, it would take too long. The forms for the CRA instatement must be signed by the Daimyo of the land of fire before anything else. In addition the entire process takes about a week. As you may know, Naruto Uzumaki will be taking his Genin exam to graduate from the academy and become a ninja. When he passes, he will become a ninja of Konoha. In other words, I will have control over anything relevant to him due to him being a part of the military."

The frowns of the council deepened further.

"Third, Naruto Uzumaki is not technically part of a Konoha clan."

Once again, an elderly councilwoman spoke. "Don't play the fool Hokage-sama! We are all aware that the Uzumaki was once a great clan. No matter how hard lord second attempted to cover up all records of the Uzumaki clan, some of us are still aware of its existence in the past."

"Well although that is true, the Uzumaki clan is not a clan of Konoha. The Uzumaki clan is still technically the clan of Uzushiogakure. If you will all turn to page three of Naruto's official profile that I am sure none of you read before making this decision, it is clearly stated that Naruto Uzumaki is a hosted clan leader from Uzushiogakure that is living in Konoha for a long term diplomatic mission. Therefore we cannot place Naruto Uzumaki under the CRA without confirmation from the leader of the Uzumaki clan that he is being handed over to Konoha permanently, and I highly doubt that Naruto himself will do that."

A few chuckles could be heard from behind Hiruzen from the clan leaders.

Yet another council member stood up. "Clan leader?! There's no way that brat could be the clan leader of the Uzumaki clan! The clan should be effectively considered disbanded due to its lack of members that are ninja!"

"Denied again. Be silent. You are beginning to get on my nerves."

"Fourth, we honestly cannot afford to risk imposing the CRA upon Naruto Uzumaki. Due to his status as the Jinchuuriki of the nine-tailed fox, he is far too valuable to risk. Assuming that we do force the CRA upon him, he could easily defect from Konoha and possibly even join another major village. Worst case scenario, Naruto could decide to allow the nine-tails to rampage and destroy the hidden leaf. Without the fourth Hokage, we would be completely hopeless and all of us would die. Any other questions?"

…..

The head council member stood and bowed. "No Hokage-sama. The council understands that Naruto Uzumaki will not be placed under the Clan Restoration Act."

 ***~~~Scene Change!~~~***

 **A Week Later, The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato, Friday, November 30** **th** **, 334** **th** **Day of the Academy Year, 11:50 AM**

Today was the last day of the academy school year. In other words, today was the day of the Genin exam. Each student had to show mastery of the Transformation jutsu, the Substitution jutsu, and the clone jutsu. In Naruto's case, any type of clone was allowed.

Each student was being called to the front of the class to demonstrate their jutsu. Iruka and 5 other teachers were standing up at the front evaluating each student. Of course Iruka had the final say as the head teacher, but the other five were there to give more insight.

They were calling up students based off of their grade, and they started with the dead last. Now Sasuke and Naruto were the only ones left.

"Sasuke Uchiha." Iruka called.

Sasuke showed off his transformation jutsu by changing into Naruto, who today was wearing a black t-shirt, an orange sleeveless zip-up hoodie over the shirt, and a pair of dull green cargo pants with his ninja sandals.

Multiple teachers present at the time frowned visibly at his choice of transformation, but gave him full marks regardless.

For his substitution, Sasuke switched himself with one of the logs given.

Lastly he summoned 3 perfect illusionary clones and received full marks for it.

Iruka handed Sasuke his new forehead protector.

"Congratulations Sasuke Uchiha. You have hereby been promoted to the rank of Genin. Serve Konoha well."

Sasuke bowed to the teachers. "I hereby swear to serve and protect Konoha with my body and soul, and I swear to fan the will of fire in the village." Sasuke recited the oath that all new Genin were required to recite.

Iruka took a look at his clipboard. "Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto walked down the steps and stopped at the front of the room before turning and looking at the class. 'Today is the day Sasuke. You're gonna regret reverse pranking me that one time.'

"Ok Naruto, please demonstrate your use of the transformation."

Naruto formed the hand seal and channeled chakra. A poof of smoke enveloped him. When it cleared, Sasuke's form could be seen in the clouds. Oh but it wasn't just any Sasuke. And no it wasn't a naked Sasuke, that's absolutely tactless.

No. This was little kid Sasuke. Sasuke from back before his entire family got murdered and he became emo bot 9000. This was a young Sasuke with shorts, a dark blue t-shirt, and one of the cutest faces that you'll ever see.

On cue, all of the girls and even a couple of boys in the class reacted. "Awwwwww."

To say the least, Sasuke was blushing. To say the most, Kushina wasn't the only one who looked like a tomato.

Many of the males in the room were trying their hardest to stifle their laughs, although they were mostly failing miserably.

Iruka smiled. "Very well Naruto. Please show us your usage of the substitution jutsu."

Naruto picked up one of the board erasers and threw it across the room. He then was engulfed with a poof of smoke and he was now in the place of the eraser.

Iruka nodded and wrote down a note on his clipboard. "Very impressive Naruto. To have been able to switch places with such a small object so early speaks much of your talent, not to mention you quickly used the jutsu with no hand seals."

Naruto blushed at the praise. "Hehe. Yeah I practiced really hard for that one. I figured out how to do it with no hand seals about a month ago and I've been working on making it faster."

"I see. Well then please move onto the clone jutsu."

Naruto crossed his fingers and concentrated his chakra. A second later the room was full of Naruto clones.

Iruka sighed. "Once again, very impressive Naruto. However don't you think that maybe you overdid it?"

"Eh. I think that's an OK amount. I could make way more than that.

Iruka nodded. "Hmm. Well good job."

Iruka handed Naruto his new forehead protector.

"Congratulations Naruto Uzumaki. You have hereby been promoted to the rank of Genin. Serve Konoha well."

Naruto bowed to the teachers. "I hereby swear to serve and protect Konoha with my body and soul, and I swear to fan the will of fire in the village."

Iruka nodded. "Very good. Congratulations to everyone who passed! I am so pleased that I have been able to see all of you grow to the ninja that you will now become. Go out into the world and represent Konoha well as proud ninja of the leaf."

At that moment, the bell rang signifying that the school day was over.

 ***~~~Scene Change!~~~***

 **An Hour Later, Uchiha Compound, Konohagakure no Sato, 1:00 PM**

Sasuke, Kiba, and Naruto all sat around a table in Sasuke's kitchen.

"Alright Naruto. So what is that secret that you said you were going to tell us on graduation day?" Sasuke asked curiously.

Kiba nodded. "Yeah! It's time to spill the beans Naruto!"

Naruto put his hands up. "Alright. Alright. Just calm down. I'll tell you everything now. Also I'm gonna have to take you somewhere."

This didn't deter them. Least of all Sasuke. "Yeah sure. It's not like I actually need to be anywhere else today."

Naruto nodded. "Alright. Well the first thing was that I was going to tell you about my crystal release, but you already know about that now. So I guess I'll get right into the big event. Watch."

Naruto performed the chakra purification process and formed multiple light shuriken that hovered around him. "I can do light ninjutsu."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Light ninjutsu?! I've never even heard of that before. Is it another Kekkei Genkai?"

"Nah. It's just a style, but you have to meet certain requirements before you can do it. Apparently only one person every few centuries can actually use it to its full extent because you have to have a pure soul to do it. I don't know if it would work otherwise though."

Kiba walked around the shuriken. "A pure soul? Is this a prank Naruto?"

Naruto whipped around. "No! I'm serious! I found a big underground base at the start of this year and it had tons of stuff in it! I can show you where it is. I even live there now!"

Sasuke raised his eyebrow. "I thought you lived with the Sarutobi clan because your apartment got burned down."

"Yeah but that was only for a little while. Only Jiji knows about the chambers, so I just stayed there to keep up appearances. Now that I graduated I'm moving back in officially. You wanna see it?"

Sasuke and Kiba both nodded.

"Alright then! Follow me!"

 ***~~~Scene Change!~~~***

 **20 Minutes Later, Outside The Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, 1:20 PM**

"OK guys. It's just up ahead. There's a hatch on the ground that leads to the chambers, but I'm the only one who can see it so I'll open it for you and guide you in." Naruto explained.

The three boys walked into the space with the hatch. Naruto pointed to it. "It's just over there. I know that you guys can't see it, but it'll all make sense soon."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow. "What the hell are you talking about Naruto? The hatch is right there. I can see it." Sasuke also pointed to the hatch.

Naruto blinked. "What?"

"I can see it."

Naruto stepped back. "But…..Jiji, Tenten, and Tenten's dad couldn't see it. Why can you?"

"How should I know? I've never seen it before."

Kiba spoke up. "What are you talking about Sasuke? There isn't anything there. It's just grass."

Sasuke turned to Kiba questioningly. "You can't see it?"

Sasuke walked over to the hatch and put his hand on the handle. "It's right here. It stands out so much."

Kiba came over and inspected the spot. He ran his hand through the grass there and shook his head. "Nothing is there man. You sure you're feeling OK?"

Sasuke took a step back now. "K-Kiba. Your hand is going through the handle."

"Yeah that's how it always is." Naruto interjected. "I dunno why, but other people can't see it or touch it. The only way that they can touch it is if I open it for them, and even then they can't see it. I don't get why Sasuke can see it though."

"Whatever. Let's just go inside." Sasuke decided as he walked over and opened the hatch. He climbed in and helped Kiba down the ladder before Naruto also came down and shut the hatch.

Once all three of them got down to the main chamber, Sasuke and Kiba were surprised to say the least.

Kiba walked around in wonder. "Woah man, this is super crazy. How big is this place?"

"Hmmmmmm. Really big. Apparently it used to house a big order called the order of light, so it has a lot of space. Oh yeah, and don't try to read those big scrolls in the back. They'll kill you if you don't have a pure soul."

At that moment, an influx of memories entered Naruto's head. "Huh. Well that's convenient."

Sasuke tilted his head. "What is?"

"One of my clones just found out how to add people to something called "The Lexicon", which would let them see the hatch and stuff." Naruto explained.

Kiba tilted his head. "So could I do that?"

Naruto nodded. Yeah apparently you have to add a blood sample to one of the seals on the orb in the library."

"You have a library?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, you wanna see it?"

"Sure!"

The trio walked through the maze of the chambers and found their way to the library. Naruto opened the door and walked in.

Sasuke walked in as well and stared in awe. "This place is huge. Even the Konoha main library isn't this big."

"Nah you haven't seen anything yet. There are more hallways and rooms full of scrolls and books than I can count. Anyway, you can look all around the library later. Let's go look at the orb first."

Naruto walked over to the section of the wall that held the secret passageway and channeled chakra into it. The door slid open to reveal the hallway. "Come on, it's just in here. Don't worry about the door by the way. I've tested it, and it won't close behind us."

They all walked down the hallway and came out to the room containing the orb. "Alright Kiba. Just add some blood to the seal right here." Naruto said as he pointed to one of the many seals covering the orb."

Kiba took out a kunai and made a cut on his thumb. He squeezed out a bit of blood onto the seal. The seal glowed a bright gold before Kiba's name appeared inside of the seal.

Sasuke stepped forward. "Should I do it too?"

Naruto thought for a moment and nodded. "Yeah I should probably do it too. I don't think that it would hurt to do."

Naruto and Sasuke both dripped blood on top of the seal and watched as their names were engraved into it.

"That should do it. I think that you should be able to see the hatch and stuff now. You can also alter some of the seals scattered around the chambers, but I would prefer that you didn't."

The trio walked out of the hallway and into the library. They sat down at one of the tables to talk.

"Alright Naruto, tell us what all of this is." Sasuke requested.

"Well long story short without losing many details, I found this place almost a year ago, I opened one of the big scrolls at the front, it spit out tendrils of light that stabbed me in the chest and got absorbed into me. They opened up my soul pathways a little bit which gives me the possibility of opening the six pathways of light one by one and performing light ninjutsu. Now I live here, learning stuff from the library and all that jazz. Any questions?"

Sasuke looked intrigued now. "So there are jutsu here in the library?"

"Oh sure. There are tons of them to learn. You're welcome to come by any time I guess and look around since you can see the entrance now." Naruto offered.

"Naruto….This is actually really amazing. Any other huge secrets that you want to tell us?" Sasuke said sarcastically.

Naruto pondered for a moment. "Yeah actually. I wanted to wait to tell you this until we got here because I don't want anyone else to find out about some of it."

Sasuke groaned. "Ugh. Why is everything so complicated with you?" He sighed. "Fine, go ahead."

Naruto turned to Kiba as well. "Are you guys sure that you're OK with hearing these? Both of them are S-rank secrets."

Kiba gulped. "S-rank? What could they possibly be?"

Naruto looked down for a moment. "Well here's the first one. You guys know all about the history of the nine-tails attack right?"

They both nodded.

"Well that isn't really what happened. The fourth Hokage didn't actually kill the nine-tails."

Sasuke and Kiba blinked. "What do you mean Naruto? Then what happened to it?"

"Well you guys know what sealing is right?"

Two nods.

"Well it's like that. The fourth hokage sealed half of the nine-tails with himself in the Shinigami's stomach and sealed the other half inside of me. I am the Jinchuuriki of the nine-tailed fox."

Kiba faltered. "Jinchuuriki? You have half of the nine-tails inside of you? How does that work?"

"I dunno really. I haven't gotten nearly that far in my sealing studies yet. But basically all of Konoha hates me because they think that I'm the nine-tails. Any questions on that point?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Surprisingly, no. It's actually fairly straightforward."

"So….You guys are OK with it then?"

Sasuke frowned. "Of course. We aren't mindless enough to hat you for something like that. It isn't like you had any control over it. A person is defined by their actions in life, not by the things that they don't control. You can't control that any more than I can control being an Uchiha."

Naruto turned to Kiba. "Kiba?"

"Of course I don't care! It's like Sasuke said. You're you, and that's all."

Naruto nodded. "Alright then, onto the next secret. This one is even more secret. Are you sure that you're OK with hearing it?"

Sasuke nodded once again. "Of course Naruto. Now come on and tell us."

"OK then. I guess that I won't beat around the bush. The fourth Hokage is my dad, and my mom was the princess of the Uzumaki clan, so I'm a clan head too I guess." Naruto said casually.

Their eyes widened. "Lord fourth is your father?!" Sasuke asked disbelievingly.

"Yep."

"And your mom was royalty?!"

Naruto stroked his chin. "Well it was kind of different than you would think of some fancy nobleperson. The Uzumaki clan Royalty was really focused on combat too. The crystal style runs in the royal family."

Sasuke put his hand to his eye and groaned. "I swear, you're too much sometimes Naruto. Ugh. I just thought of you as a royal. Never again."

Kiba groaned as well. "At least things never get old around you Naruto. It's never a dull day in Naruto-ville. When you become Hokage, Konoha is never gonna be the same again."

Naruto grinned. "That's what you pay me for."

"I don't pay you."

"That's what the government wants you to think."

Kiba sighed.

Sasuke interjected. "So what about the nine-tails?"

Naruto tilted his head. "What about it?"

"Well do you get any special powers from it? Have you talked to it before?"

Naruto stopped. "Huh. I actually don't know. I have really fast healing from it, but I don't think that I have any other powers. I might just not know though. And…huh. I never tried talking to it."

"Of course you didn't. You have a giant mass of chakra, the strongest of the nine tailed beasts, and destroyer of Konoha sealed in your body and you never even tried to find anything out about it."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Well…..there is one thing that I know."

Now Sasuke tilted his head questioningly.

"Jiji was talking to me about that night and he told me that before he died, dad told him that the nine-tails was being controlled. It didn't attack Konoha of its own will." Naruto explained.

"The nine-tails was being controlled?! How?!"

Naruto sweat a little bit. "Well….you won't like it."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Try me."

Naruto faced him again. "Well alright….Jiji told me that on the night of the attack, the nine-tails….."

Kiba leaned forward. "The nine-tails?"

"The nine-tails…had two Sharingan eyes. It was probably an Uchiha who was controlling it."

Sasuke slammed his fist down on the table. "Dammit. This is the type of shit that makes people hate the Uchiha. They all kept stealing peoples jutsu and sneaking around, even among their allies. If someone had a strong enough Sharingan, they could potentially control a tailed beast."

Naruto frowned. "Damn."

Kiba looked back and forth between the two. "So an Uchiha made the Nine-tails attack Konoha?!"

Sasuke put his hand on his face again. "Yeah. And I know how they did it."

Naruto jerked forward. "What?! How?"

"There's a stone tablet in the Uchiha compound that requires the Sharingan to read. I can only read the first line, but it tells how to control the tailed beasts. To do it, a Sharingan user needs to advance their eyes to the form of the Mangekyō Sharingan."

Kiba sat back. "The Mangekyō Sharingan?"

Sasuke nodded. "It's initially awakened by the trauma suffered from witnessing the death of someone close to the user. Essentially it's a power given through the loss of a loved one. From death." He explained. "It's like I was telling Naruto before. It can allow you to use a much more advanced version of the hypnosis jutsu to make something bend to your will. It could even work on some people."

Naruto now leaned back as well, tipping his chair onto one leg. "So we can confirm that it was an Uchiha then. But who? Who would have had the Mangekyō Sharingan?"

"Well one of the founders of Konoha Madara Uchiha was said to have had it, and I know that my brother had it before he left. I don't know who else had it though. My brother shouldn't have had it at the point of the nine-tails attack, and Madara Uchiha is dead." Sasuke frowned.

A silence went through the library.

Naruto stood up. "Well if we don't have any more information right now, there's no need to worry about it now. We can see if Jiji knows anything about that later. For now, let's look at the rest of the chambers. You can come back here to look for jutsu or whatever later."

 ***~~~Scene Change!~~~***

 **2 Weeks Later, The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato, 10:00 AM**

Iruka stood at the front of the room, reading off the listings for the new teams.

"Team 7 will consist of Naruto Uzumaki…"

Multiple people began to rise from their seats, hoping to be on Naruto's team. He was super strong after all.

"….Sasuke Uchiha."

More people rose from their seats.

"And….."

'AND?!'

"Kiba Inuzuka."

Naruto and Kiba jumped up in celebration, Sasuke actually smiled quite a bit, and most of the rest of the class put their heads down in defeat. It figured that those three would be together. Their teamwork would be great, and they were all super strong.

"They will be led by…Kakashi Hatake."

Multiple people's eyes widened. You didn't go through the academy and not hear about Kakashi Hatake. He was supposedly a genius who graduated extremely early, and was taught by the fourth Hokage. However they didn't know any specific details due to Kakashi's secretive nature.

Naruto and Kiba cheered once again, and Sasuke was dragged into the celebration by Naruto. The three were currently dancing in a circle happily. Or at least Naruto and Kiba.

"Team 8 will consist of Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga, and Sakura Haruno."

Shino stayed neutral, Hinata was more or less still just sad that she wasn't on Naruto's team, and Sakura was essentially still sad about not being on Sasuke's team.

"They will be led by….Kurenai Yuhi."

Oh good. A no-name jounin that they hadn't heard about. Why couldn't they get someone like Kakashi Hatake?

"Next up, Team 10 will be Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka."

That made sense. Everyone had heard about the Ino-Shika-Cho combination. Although it seemed that the people in charge didn't understand the meaning of the word predictability.

"They will be led by…Asuma Sarutobi."

Ino perked up. Asuma Sarutobi was the third Hokage's son, everyone knew that. He was also one of the 12 guardian ninja until recently.

Team 7 and team 10 had snatched up some pretty legendary ninja. Of course, all of the more experienced Jounin had some sort of reputation, but they had nothing on people like Kakashi Hatake and Asuma Sarutobi.

"That should be everyone! Please wait here for your Jounin sensei. It has been an honor to teach all of you up to this point, and I hope to see all of you succeed." Iruka said as he walked out of the classroom.

 ***~~~Scene Change!~~~***

 **1 Hour Later, The Academy, Konohagakure no Sato, 11:00 PM**

Kakashi opened the door to the academy classroom. He actually showed up two hours earlier than he normally would because he really had some interest in his possible students this year.

Kiba was supposedly a fairly strong and talented taijutsu user and the clan heir of the Inuzuka clan. Sasuke now held the power of the Sharingan, and he had apparently become extremely powerful for a Genin over the past year. Naruto was a particularly interesting case. He was equal if not superior to Sasuke in straight combat, he seemed to have a flair for the dramatic and unexpected, and of course, he was his sensei's son.

The three of them were also supposed to make quite a team. He was actually looking forward to a team that might be able to pass his test.

Kakashi was greeted with a new sight. Instead of the annoyed glares and comments that he normally got, the three boys were sprawled across the ground at the front of the room asleep. Sasuke and Naruto were particularly close.

"Huh. I would have expected Sasuke to be the big spoon." He mused. "I have to get a picture of this. Blackmail material here I come."

He unsealed a small disposable camera and took multiple shots of the scene before putting it away.

Kakashi knelt down and poked their faces. "Wake up my cute little Genin. It's time to work."

Sasuke was the only one to even stir slightly.

Kakashi resorted to semi-hard slapping.

Kiba and Naruto stirred, but ultimately didn't wake up. Sasuke on the other hand jolted awake and took in his surroundings.

"N-Naruto! Get off of me Naruto! Our sensei is here! Sensei I swear this isn't what it looks like."

Kakashi eye smiled. "Yes I'm sure."

Sasuke blushed furiously. "Come on Naruto! Get up!" He yelled as he pushed against Naruto.

Naruto's eyes opened up. "W-Whaat? What's up Sasuke?"

"Get off of me!"

Naruto complied and rolled over. "G'night Sasuke."

Sasuke stood up and kicked Naruto. "It's only eleven!"

"That's plenty late. Stop kicking meee." Naruto complained.

Sasuke kicked harder. "It's eleven in the morning Naruto!"

Naruto rolled back over and fully opened his eyes. He stood up and brushed himself off. "You're mean Sasuke." He kicked Kiba. "Hey get up. Kakashi-sensei is here."

Kiba also stood up. "Yeah yeah. Alright I'm up."

Kakashi coughed. "Would someone like to explain this to me?"

Sasuke spoke up in fear of Naruto or Kiba making the scenario worse. "It's not what it looks like sensei! Everyone else was gone, and we just got bored! The floor was more comfortable than those wood seats, so we just laid down. That position was Naruto's fault."

Naruto looked hurt. "Me?! I couldn't control it, I was asleep!"

Kakashi chuckled. At least they were lively. "Well regardless, meet me up on the roof."

A second later, Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Sasuke who was still blushing turned to Naruto. "If I ever find out that you did that on purpose, you're dead Naruto." He threatened violently.

Naruto waved his hands in front of him. "It wasn't! Let's just go."

The three of them ran out the door and to the roof.

When they got there, Kakashi was sitting on the railing. He gestured for them to sit on the bench.

"Alright, well I think that first we should start with introductions. How about your name, things that you like and dislike, your hobbies, and your dreams for the future."

Naruto went first. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like training, gardening, these two idiots, Jiji, and sleeping."

Sasuke knocked Naruto on the head.

"Ow. It was just a joke. Anyway I dislike bigots, pedophiles, and indiscriminate killers. My hobbies are gardening, training, and coming up with new jutsu. My dreams for the future are to become the Hokage, protect my friends, and to kick ass and take names."

Sasuke face palmed at the last comment.

Kakashi pointed to Sasuke. "Thanks for volunteering. You next."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I like rice balls, tomatoes, and training. I dislike natto, sweet things, and my brother. My hobbies are training and taking walks. My dreams…..I will kill my brother."

Naruto now hit Sasuke on the head.

Sasuke rubbed his head. "Alright, alright. We'll kill my brother."

Kakashi blinked. "Naruto is also going to help you kill your brother?"

Kiba chimed in. "Hey don't forget about me!"

Sasuke spoke again. "Also….I swear to also protect my friends with my life. I won't let anyone else die anymore."

Kakashi pointed to Kiba. "Next."

"My name is Kiba Inuzuka. I like beef, steak, jerky, and cartilage. I also like training with Naruto and Sasuke. I dislike anything chewy and people who threaten my friends. My hobbies are training and taking walks with Akamaru. My dreams for the future are to become the Inuzuka clan head and protect my friends and family."

Kakashi eye smiled. 'I like these kids. They get the idea.'

"Nice to meet you. Meet me in training ground 3 tomorrow at 9:00 ready for anything. Don't eat breakfast." Kakashi said as he body flickered away.

Naruto stood up. "Huh. Well he seemed nice."

"Why shouldn't we eat breakfast though?" Kiba questioned.

Sasuke shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he plans to treat us."

 ***~~~Scene Change!~~~***

 **The Next Day, Training Ground 3, Konohagakure no Sato, 11:00 AM**

They had been waiting for two hours. Two hours of essentially doing nothing active. They didn't train because Kakashi had said to be ready for anything, so they didn't want to deplete their chakra reserves any.

They had spent two hours just talking about random topics before Kakashi appeared in the clearing.

"Hello my cute little Genin! Sorry I'm late, I passed under a ladder today and then I saw a black cat cross my path, so I had to take a different route, but then someone broke a mirror next to me. I figured that taking the route all the way around Konoha was a better bet than testing my luck more." He badly lied.

"Uuughh. Are your going to be late like this every day?" Naruto groaned.

"Maybe, maybe not. You'll have to actually pass the test first though." Kakashi responded casually.

Kiba rose his head. "Huh? What test?"

"Well this is the real Genin test. The one that you take in the academy is just a sort of test to see if you might be ready to be Genin. This is to see if you actually have what it takes."

Sasuke groaned. "So what's the catch?"

Kakashi took out two bells from his pocket and waved them in front of himself. "Well the test is that you each have to steal one of these within the hour. Those of you who do so successfully will be allowed to eat lunch, while the one who fails to do so will be tied to a log and not be allowed to eat." He explained. "In addition, the loser also gets sent back to the academy. That is your mission. It's fight or die."

"What?! That's bullshit! There's no such thing as a three man cell! In a Genin squad, there has to be one Jounin and three Genin! They taught us that much in the Academy."

Kakashi sweatdropped. 'Dammit. The Uchiha had to be the bright one didn't he?'

"Well surely you've heard of me before right?"

The three all nodded.

"Well then you must know how strong I am. Hokage-sama has given me the go ahead to boot one of you out and just take two of you because he knows that even when missing a member, I can make a three man cell work. Oh yeah, and anyone who doesn't get a bell will be sent back regardless. If only one of you gets a bell then they get sent back too."

Naruto stood up angrily. "That's stupid! Jiji would never let you do that. He's the one who's always talking about how important teamwork and helping your fellow ninja grow is! He wouldn't just let anyone cut a member of the team just because they didn't do as well as the others! I call bullshit too. I bet you're just trying to scare us to make our tactics worse."

Kakashi sweatdropped again. 'Of course Naruto would see through that. He's one of the closest people to Hokage-sama in the entire village, the world even. He knows exactly what he would do.'

He turned to Kiba. "Anything from you Kiba?"

"….You're stupid."

"Witty. Now, since you've all seen through my façade I suppose that there's no reason to lie anymore. The challenge is still the same though. You have to attempt to get the bells from me within the hour. I may not be able to send one or two of you back, but I can still send your entire team back to the academy if I'm not impressed."

The trio's gaze hardened.

"Now that that matter is cleared up, onto the next part. I want all of you to come after me with the intent to kill. Act as if I am the enemy, or you won't get far. You have one hour. Starting….now."

The three potential Genin pushed into their stances and readied themselves.

…..

"You guys aren't going to hide?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I know that you'll find us easily. We know how legendary your skills are."

Kiba tightened his stance. "Same. I'm part of a ninja clan, and they beat that kind of thing into your head. You have to be able to recognize when someone is more skilled than you."

Naruto took a moment before speaking. "I don't run away, no matter what."

…

"You forgot that you should run didn't you?"

Naruto blushed. "S-Shut up! It was a strategic decision!"

Kakashi chuckled. "Suuuuuuuure. I do believe that I said to begin though."

Naruto grinned. "I know."

All three of the boys shimmered out of existence. Kakashi could still sense their chakra signatures, but he couldn't see them. 'An invisibility jutsu? How would they get their hands on something like that?'

Kakashi sensed a chakra buildup from behind him and he whipped around. There was no visible source, but he could still sense it. He formed multiple hand seals at a lightning fast speed.

 **"Water Release: Water Bullet Technique!"** A rapid stream of water shot out of his mouth and headed straight towards the position of his attacker.

 **"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"** A wide wave of wind intercepted the water bullet and dispersed the attack.

 **"Storming Crystal Thorns!"**

A long crystal shot out of the ground at Kakashi, who dodged it easily. However he was surprised to find that the crystal continued to grow and sprout more crystal thorns out of it, continuously advancing towards him. 'Hm. So this is the crystal release that I heard about. So I guess Naruto is the one attacking then. But where are the other two?'

Kakashi turned around in midair as he sensed another mass of chakra coming up behind him to find a large ball of fire shooting towards him. He planted his foot on a crystal and jumped to the side. However just as he began to feel safer, two violently rotating masses headed straight for him.

The two attacks collided into his sides and drilled in.

As he fell, the trio became visible and ran towards his body.

Naruto ran ahead with a frightened look on his face. "Kakashi-sensei! Dammit we weren't actually supposed to kill him. I thought that he could dodge that!"

"I would've gone softer if I knew he was that slow!"

Sasuke stopped both of them by putting his hands on their shoulders. "Stop you idiots! He's a legendary Jounin. You really think that you got him?" He pointed to the body. "Look."

Naruto and Kiba took a closer look and saw a log that was splintered apart laying on the ground.

Naruto ruffled his own hair violently. "Agh! I shouldn't have lowered the perception blocking! Now we don't know where he is and we're right out in the open!"

Kakashi crouched on a tree branch watching the trio. 'Perception blocking? That's oddly specific, so it's probably a different method from other invisibility jutsu. Creating jutsu now are we Naruto?'

They leaned to whisper so that Kakashi couldn't hear them or see their faces.

Kiba looked at both of them back and forth. "So what do we do now? He'll be watching what we do from now on, so setting traps is gonna be hard."

Naruto nodded. "Well I think I have a plan to give us more privacy and it might even find Kakashi-sensei, but I'm not sure if he has a way to see through it or not."

"Just tell us. If it doesn't work we can figure something out then." Sasuke said.

"Alright. Get ready to run right behind me. Make sure that you keep visual on me specifically. There's gonna be a lot of clones that look like all three of us."

The three broke apart and Kakashi tensed. 'What do you three have planned?'

Naruto threw down a smoke bomb and they were quickly engulfed in white smoke. Shortly after, chakra smoke covered the whole clearing and some of the forest.

Clones of Naruto, Kiba, and Sasuke jumped out of the cloud of smoke into the forest group after group in every direction.

Kakashi sighed. 'It's impossible to tell a shadow clone apart from the real thing so as long as they don't act differently from the clones, I have no way to tell them apart. Pakkun wouldn't be any help here either. Not only do I not have anything for him to sniff, but the smell of Naruto would override his senses and he would never be able to distinguish Sasuke and Kiba from all of this mess.' He face palmed.

'And because they used a smoke bomb to cover themselves, I didn't see if they stood still or started moving as soon as the clones appeared. In addition, I don't even know if all three of the real ones are together. They could have each gone with clones to confuse me.'

"Oh well. I guess I'll just run around the forest and wait for them to find me." Kakashi decided as he jumped away.

The real trio was far away from Kakashi, crouching in a trench and covered by some low trees and bushes.

Sasuke lowered down as he deactivated his Sharingan. "Alright we should be clear. What's the plan now?"

Naruto thought for a moment before speaking up. "Well we know that he outclasses us in pure combat any day, so direct combat is out. If we need a way to track and trap him I have a few options, but I'll need you guys to keep him occupied long enough for me to catch him with a jutsu. You would also have the help of my clones."

Kiba leaned in. "How long do we have to keep him occupied?"

"Well I'll need a couple of seconds of him standing in a small area without his focus being on me."

Sasuke nodded. "We can do that. How are you going to track him though?"

"I just learned a type of barrier ninjutsu a couple of weeks ago called a sensing barrier. If I station a few clones in a large circle around an area, I can tell when someone enters it. It's invisible so he won't know that it's there. When I say that I can track him, I really just mean that I can know when he's close to us." Naruto explained. "I also have a few custom tools for you to use."

"And how are you going to trap him?"

 **5 Minutes Later, Training Ground 3, Konohagakure no Sato**

Naruto opened his eyes as he sensed Kakashi cross the barrier. "He's here. 60 degrees north and about 110 meters away." He reported. "Get into position."

Sasuke and Kiba nodded before jumping away.

Naruto formed two hand seals and released a clear high-viscosity, chakra infused water all around him in a wide area. He coated his feet with chakra and sprayed the jutsu under himself as well.

 **"Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field!"**

Once he was satisfied with the amount of syrupy liquid spread around and under him, he jumped away to a nearby tree.

He took out four barrier tags and summoned four shadow clones. He handed a tag to each of them and they jumped to four different trees in a simple square shape. They placed the tags on the trees and sat above them, ready to fuel chakra into them at any time.

A couple of minutes later, Kakashi came into view as he jumped backwards to dodge a large fireball. As Sasuke and Kiba both jumped towards him in the air, he grabbed their heads and knocked them together. "Too slow. You're both pretty good on the ground, but as soon as you get into the air you lose a lot of your control."

Naruto bit his lip. 'Damn. I guess Kakashi-sensei is still too good for any of us to really pressure him into an area if he doesn't want us to.'

Naruto unsealed a long piece of Ninja wire with a small ball at the end and swung it in a sideways arc towards Kakashi to try to push him back just a little bit more.

Kakashi whipped around. "Oh hey Naruto. I was starting to wonder where you were since you weren't with these two. Sorry, but you're going to have to do better than that to do any damage to me." He said as he caught the wire.

However what he hadn't expected was for the wire to have an insane amount of force behind it, which threw him back into the range of the barrier seals and into the syrup capturing field.

"Ow. How physically strong are you Naruto?"

Naruto grinned. "Not strong enough to do that, but adding 500 pounds to the iron ball on the end of that wire with weight seals does that type of thing."

Kakashi sweatdropped. 'Of course he would use seals like that.'

"Well that's all well and good Naruto, but how do you expect to beat- Huh?" Kakashi said confusedly as he attempted to pick himself up but found that he was stuck to the ground.

"What is this stuff Naruto?"

"It's the Starch Syrup Capturing Field jutsu!" Naruto boasted. "Gotcha Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi had an angry look on his face. "Hey this is Izumo's jutsu! Where did you learn this Naruto? Did Izumo teach you this?!"

Naruto laughed. "Oh you mean the gate guy? Yeah I was passing by the entrance of Konoha while running one day and he said that he had heard a lot about me and how I became the best in the academy, so he gave me a scroll for this. Pretty cool huh?"

Kakashi grumbled under his breath. "I swear I'm gonna kill Izumo when I get out of here."

"Well I didn't think that it would go down like this though. I thought that I was gonna have to use some widespread jutsu to distract you and make you move back into the capturing field, but I never expected you to fall completely into it. I was just expecting your feet to get stuck, then I was going to use my crystal release to bind your arms in place too. After that I was going to activate the barrier seals for extra protection and to look cool and intimidating."

Kiba and Sasuke walked up to the edge of the syrup capturing field. Sasuke poked the syrupy liquid with a stick which refused to detach itself, causing him to have to abandon the stick. He cried a few silent tears as he bid farewell to his companion.

"Nice work Naruto. It didn't go according to plan, but he's captured. How do we get the bells though?" he questioned.

"I don't know! I didn't know that he would land on his back, and I can't release the jutsu or else he'll get out. Although, this might work a little bit better."

 **"Earth Style: Moving Earth Core!"** He yelled as he slammed his hands on the ground, causing the earth directly under Kakashi to rise up and put him on a higher platform.

Naruto released the part of the syrup that was on the lower level and let it turn into normal water that flowed into the ground. He also released the substance that was directly under the bells and reached forward to grab them.

To his surprise, Kakashi's hand shot out and flipped him over. Kakashi stood up and looked down on Naruto. "Your plan would have worked, but I've run into that jutsu before now so I know how to deal with it. All I had to do was push some fire element chakra into it to heat it up and melt it away somewhat. After that all I had to do was pull away."

At that moment a ringing noise was heard all across the training ground.

"Well it looks like time is up. Sorry but it looks like all three of you…"

The trio lowered their heads in disappointment.

"Pass!"

Naruto looked up. "Wha?"

Kakashi eye-smiled. "You all pass. From this day forward you are all part of my Genin squad, welcome to the team."

Sasuke stepped forward. "But I don't get it. None of us managed to get a bell, so how did we pass?!"

"The purpose of this test wasn't just to get the bells. Of course you still had to impress me with your skills, but the true purpose of this whole thing was to see if you guys are able to work together properly. In other words, I needed to know if you guys would abandon one of your teammates when the situation gets tough." He explained.

Kiba nodded. "Oooooh. That makes more sense. So basically if we couldn't work together you would send all three of us back no matter what."

Kakashi nodded as well. "Exactly. You all know the shinobi rules right?"

The three nodded.

"So you know the rule that a shinobi must always put the mission first?"

Nods all around.

"Well there's something that my teammate once said. While those who break the rules of the ninja world are trash, those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. Today you all proved that you're all just normal trash, just like me."

Naruto grinned as he brought Kiba and Sasuke in for a group hug. "Woooooo! Trash buddies!" He also dragged a willing Kakashi in as well.

"Yes Naruto. Trash buddies."

 **Two Hours Later, Hokage Meeting Room, Konohagakure no Sato**

"Team 6, fail of course. I swear these kids don't know anything. One of them almost blew themselves up with an explosive note."

Hiruzen sweatdropped. It sounded like Genin. "Team 7?"

Kurenai spoke up. "Kakashi isn't here yet as usual."

"Very well. Team 8?"

Kurenai stepped forward. "Team 8, passed barely. Although I have to say that Sakura Haruno didn't impress me nearly as much as her records indicated. The top kunoichi in the academy doesn't amount to much apparently. Her practical field skills are essentially null, regardless of what her grades say."

Hiruzen Nodded. "I see. I will see what we can do about that in the future. Team 9 is still in circulation, so team 10?"

Asuma stepped forward. "Team 10 passed. They might bicker a lot, but when things got serious they were a great team."

Kakashi stepped into the room and walked to the front, oddly wet, slightly singed, and…sticky?

"Sorry I'm late. Those kids are really a handful."

"Well what is your report?"

A laugh was heard from a Jounin in the back. "Of course they failed. Kakashi doesn't pass anyone."

Kakashi eye-smiled. "They all passed with flying colors. Those three cute little Genin really are outstanding. They have exactly what I've been looking for in a team."

Murmurs and whispers of disbelief were heard throughout the room. Hiruzen just smiled. "I see. I'm glad to hear that you have finally found what you were looking for. I'm sure that you'll be able to help them along well to become great Ninja."

 **Hey guys! Thanks for reading the 7** **th** **chapter. As I said before, I'm really sorry for the wait. I feel like taking that time made this chapter much better overall. This is my longest chapter yet, so I hope that you guys accept it as an apology for the setbacks.**

 **I also took a bit of time to start a new story as well which I currently have 4000 words on. It will be a very different type of story than this one, but it will still be Naruto. I'm not sure yet how I am going to schedule updates, but for now this is my main story so you guys don't have to worry. I will most likely work on the other one during the timeframe when I am just burnt out on writing this. Although lately I haven't really had that issue, so I'll have to figure something out.**

 **I hope that you guys liked how I approached the bell test for this one. I wanted to be able to show that they had improved, but that Kakashi was still way out of their league in terms of skill. One of the hardest parts was coming up with a way to combine the skills of the trio. I actually had a few more ideas that are cool, but I want to save them for later in a more serious fight.**

 **I don't really have much to say at the end other than what I have already said. I'm sorry to anyone who was interested in this story because of the pairing. I still love Naruten, but I just can't write romance for shit. Maybe in the future when I become a more experienced writer I will be able to pull it off well, but for now I think that it just makes my story worse.**

 **I should mention again that a little bit later on in this story, a few darker themes might pop up. No edgy shit or anything though, or at least I hope not.**

 **As always, feel free to give any and all input via review or PM and I will respond. I am always open to suggestions and I really do love that reader interaction that I get to have with you guys chapter by chapter.**

 **Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	8. Chapter 8: Realization

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! Welcome to the 8th chapter of The True Child of Light. If you didn't already know, I have published the first chapter of my second story, The Village Dragon. It is a very different concept than this story, so I hope that you go check it out if you haven't already.

 **Disclaimer:** Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the official release.

 **Important Notes: (READ THESE! I make them for a reason. If you don't read them, you may miss out on things and have questions that I answer in these.)**

• Some shit happens in this chapter.

• Naruto's light style will come into play a lot more later on, but if it seems like it is being drowned out by other abilities right now, just know that I do have plans for it and it will become a big part. I just feel like a proper ninja should have a proper versatile set of skills.

• For the sake of the timeline, the travel from Konoha to wave is about a week at a civilian pace, which is what Tazuna moves at.

• The SFX "Jiiiiiiii" is commonly used in anime and sometimes even manga to indicate intense staring. I will be throwing in random "SFX:" moments when I feel that it is appropriate.

Without further ado, I present to you the 8th chapter of The True Child of Light.

 **Chapter 8: Realization**

 **The Next Day, The Chambers, Konohagakure no Sato, 9:00 AM**

Naruto guided the Hokage into the library to talk. "So what is it that you needed to talk to me about Jiji? Did you find something out about one of our many research topics?

Hiruzen shook his head. "Unfortunately no. I am here to give you your graduation gift."

"My graduation gift? Alright then, what is it?"

Hiruzen produced a scroll from his robes and unfurled it on the table. From the looks of it, it was a sealing scroll. He used the unsealing technique and a large fine wooden box with gold covered corners appeared in a poof of smoke.

"I think that you will appreciate this Naruto. I know that you don't have anything physical from your parents, so I thought that I would give you something belonging to your father."

Naruto popped up. "Something from Dad?"

"Indeed." Hiruzen turned the box around and opened the lid. Inside it were multiple tri-pronged kunai with seals on them. Underneath the kunai laid a white short sleeved robe with red flames across the bottom. There were also kanji on the back that were mostly covered by the kunai.

"What is this?" Naruto marveled.

"This is a set of 20 of your father's personal Hiraishin kunai and his robe that he wore as the fourth Hokage. I was able to have it altered to your size, but unfortunately I couldn't change the kanji on the back that say fourth Hokage. They actually have other seals within them that are far beyond my comprehension which make the material very strong and durable. Of course, if I had changed the kanji it practically would have been a new robe at that point."

Naruto picked up the robe and held it in front of himself. "…..Dad's…..robe?"

Hiruzen frowned. "Do you not like it?"

Naruto panicked and almost dropped the robe. "Of course I like it! It's just that Dad was my hero for so long, and I always wanted a robe like his, but I never expected to actually have his. This is awesome! It's the best present ever. Thanks Jiji!" Naruto said as he embraced Hiruzen in a deep hug.

"Hahaha. I'm glad that you enjoy it Naruto. Unfortunately the kunai are simply normal kunai until you can crack the code to the Hiraishin, but I hope that it helps."

Naruto laughed. "That's fine. It's just cool to have Dad's stuff. Should I wear the robe in public though?"

The Hokage shook his head. "Not yet. Although I do have a specific time that I think you should brandish it to the world."

"Yeah?"

"Indeed. You should wear this coat when-"

 **Later That Day, Mission Room, 1:00 PM**

Kakashi stood at attention. "Team 7 reporting for duty Hokage-sama. We request a D-rank mission for today."

Hiruzen sighed. "Oh good. I was afraid that you were going to ask for an S-rank with the way you were talking about your team yesterday."

Kakashi blushed slightly. "Ah…..yes of course. Well a D-rank will do fine."

The Hokage nodded before looking for a scroll. "I see. Well I think that I have a good starting mission for all of you." He pulled out a scroll and handed it to Kakashi. "Here you go. Today you'll be painting the fences around the Gold Hills Ranch that an elderly couple recently moved into which is closer to the edge of the village than their previous farm. I expect good work from you boys."

Kakashi smiled under his mask.

The three nodded sadly. They had all been briefed in the parameters of each mission rank in the academy of course, but it didn't mean that they weren't disappointed.

Naruto brought his head up. "Come on Jiji! Do we really have to do that grunt work? You already know that we're awesome y'know!"

Kakashi bopped Naruto on the head slightly. "You're not that awesome Naruto. Everyone has to do D-ranks. The fourth Hokage did D-ranks when he was a fresh genin."

"Did the fourth Hokage know 25 elemental jutsu, 4 raw chakra manipulation jutsu, 4 sealing techniques, and 8 custom style jutsu when he was a fresh genin?" Naruto pouted.

"Touché."

"So can we get a C-rank mission?!"

"No. Let's go kids." Kakashi said while ushering the genin out of the room.

"Don't push me Kakashi-sensei." Sasuke grunted.

Kakashi tugged Sasuke's ear. "What was that?"

"OW OW OW! Please! Please don't push me!"

Sasuke's ear was unhanded. "That's better."

Kiba laughed at Sasuke which earned him an ear tug from Kakashi as well.

"Bye Jiji! I'll be doing S-ranks in no time just you wait and see!" Naruto waved as his ear was grabbed just to be fair. Also because Kakashi thought that it was fun.

Hiruzen chuckled. "I look forward to it Naruto, but do try to take it slow."

The door swung shut.

Kakashi let go of their ears. "Well you guys took that much better than I thought you would. I guess they teach the mission rankings better now. I suppose that after that one Genin quit from doing too many D-ranks they decided that it was important. Anyway, let's get going. That fence won't paint itself."

"Ughhhhhhh. Fine."

 **10 Minutes Later, Gold Hills Ranch, Konohagakure no Sato**

Kakashi knocked on the door of the main house on the ranch. After several seconds, an elderly couple opened the door.

The wife stepped forward. "Ah, you must be the young Ninja assigned to painting our fence. It's so nice to see you again Kakashi-kun. I'm sorry that we had to abandon the ranch where you painted our fence when you were a new genin, but we just had too many problems with the rest of the facilities." She said sadly.

"Of course, I understand. Things come and go, it's just how life is. On the bright side, my cute little genin here get to go through the same rite of passage that I did. Although I did notice that your new area is somewhat larger, so I assume that there will be more fencing?"

The man nodded. "Indeed. As our amount of livestock grew, we needed a bigger area. Saito and his kids will be moving in soon so that he can take over the ranch and really start showing them the ropes." He said with a smile.

Kakashi nodded. "Well I'm glad to see that you both are doing well and I hope that you'll say hello to Saito to me. I think that we should get started as soon as we can so that we'll get done in time to get back to the mission office and get these kiddies to bed."

The trio perked up. "Hey!"

The woman smiled. "Well I'm glad to see that they are lively this time around. I remember back when Minato-kun came with your team. Rin-chan was so happy to help, and Obito-kun was down in the dumps about his first mission, but you were such a stick in the mud at the time, dedicated to your mission too. You might have painted the entire fence if Minato-kun hadn't made Obito-kun help out."

Kakashi coughed. "Yes of course, I remember. The tools?" He said as he felt stares from behind him.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Kiba were all staring straight into the back of his head.

SFX: Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Kakashi started to sweat.

…

"Yes I was uptight OK?! Get to work you jerks!" Kakashi said as he threw paintbrushes at their heads and placed the paint buckets in front of them.

SFX: Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

"I'll make you run laps until tomorrow and keep you on D-ranks for 3 months!"

The trio picked up the tools and walked away to paint the fence.

Kakashi sighed before Naruto called out. "Awatadashii-sensei can I use my shadow clones?!"

"No! And don't call me that! Do it again and I'll make you do solo D-ranks and I'll go on a C-rank with the other two!"

The elderly woman laughed. "They really do bring out the best in you Kakashi-kun. I was always worried about you becoming too detached."

Kakashi scratched his cheek. "I know Obaasan. They're good kids."

She chuckled. "I can see that."

 **5 Hours Later, Mission Room, Konohagakure no Sato**

Naruto slid open the door. "Jiji we're back. Your stupid D-rank is done."

Iruka sighed. "You didn't actually think that Hokage-sama was going to be here all day do you Naruto? He left soon after you did."

Naruto face-planted while still as stiff as a board. "Of course he did."

Sasuke and Kiba tiredly walked in after him with Kakashi right behind them.

Sasuke perked up. "Hold on a second. Is this a different room?

Iruka shook his head. "Of course not. This is the mission room."

"Well this door didn't slide before, it swung open."

Kakashi nodded. "Oh yeah, we change it sometimes. It depends on how Hokage-sama feels."

A muffled cry came from Naruto. "How does that work?"

Kakashi picked up Naruto by his collar and picked him up. "You're a ninja now, figure it out."

"Awwwwww."

Kiba walked up to Iruka and handed him the mission scroll. "Here you go Iruka-sensei. We painted the stupid fence."

Iruka handed the scroll to the person next to him. "D-rank completed pile."

He turned back to Kiba. "Good. Did you get the payment?"

Kiba nodded. "Yeah we got it. 20,000 ryo for all three of us together. We already split it up."

"Good work Genin. I hope to see you continue to work hard in the future."

Naruto yawned. "Yeah alright. Let's go home."

Kakashi tilted his head. "Oh. Well then I guess it's just Kiba, Sasuke, and I for dinner then."

"Well I indeed would not like to be for dinner. I'm not sure how you guys taste though." Naruto nodded with a smirk.

Kakashi dropped Naruto back on the floor. "That isn't what I meant and you know it you smug kid. Are you going with us or not?"

"Yeah sure. Ichiraku's?"

"No Naruto, Yakiniku Q. You need more variety."

Naruto stood up and dusted himself off. "Eh. Second favorite place. That works. Also, I started cooking at home more lately too, so I totally have some variety."

 **20 Minutes Later, Yakiniku Q, Konohagakure no Sato**

Team 7 walked into the restaurant and asked for a low table. As they were walking towards one, they heard someone at the table next to them talking.

"Mmmmm. This place is always so good. It really brightens up my day."

Sasuke tilted his head. "Where do I know that voice from?"

Naruto sighed. "It's Choji. I thought that you were getting better at remembering other people."

"It isn't my fault that they're lesser beings."

"But it is your fault that you can't remember their names based off of their voices."

"Touché."

Kiba poked his head around the table divider and called out. "Hey guys! So you guys passed too huh?"

Ino turned around and saw Kiba. "Of course we passed dog-breath!"

Sasuke and Naruto both walked out into view. They both just waved a small wave.

Ino's eyes turned into anatomically incorrect hearts. Which was somehow possible apparently. "Sasuke-kun! Oh and Naruto is here. But Sasuke-kun! Come sit with us!"

Sasuke hesitated and tried to take a step back when he ran into Kakashi. "Oh hey Asuma. Can we join you?"

The Jounin sitting at the end of the table nodded. "Sure. Did your team just go through their D-rank?"

Kakashi pushed Sasuke down into a seat furthest away from Ino and then sat down next to him. "Yeah, what about yours?"

"These guys?" Asuma snorted. "Nah, I'll still have them doing exercises for a while. Not a single one of them is in the proper shape to do a long D-rank with physical labor. Choji would probably do the best, but after a while he would cut off and get tired. Shikamaru would just be too lazy to do it and would do the least amount of work possible. Ino…..she would exist."

Ino whipped her head around and glared at Asuma. "What's that supposed to mean!?" She said with a raised fist.

The Jounin raised his hands up. "I just mean that you're a lot less willing to do physical labor and eat a proper meal than other people regardless of the fact that you chose a job occupation that requires a lot of physical strength."

"I have to keep my body slim so that I can look good! If I work out a ton and get really muscly, I won't look attractive! Sasuke-kun doesn't like macho women! Plus if I eat that much I'll get fat!"

Asuma sighed. "Well first of all, stop yelling. Second, I don't think that Sasuke here is sexually attracted to sticks either. We live in Konoha, there are enough of those to go around as it is. Third, you can be in good shape and have muscle while still being slim. If anything, not eating enough will actually make you even worse. Not eating just makes you lose muscle, not fat. If you don't eat, all that'll be left is fat."

Ino sat down with a huff. "As if you know what Sasuke-kun likes. And I do not look like a stick, I'm slim. Right Sasuke-kun?" She asked hopefully.

Asuma gave Sasuke an expectant look.

Sasuke coolly turned his head. "No comment. This has nothing to do with me. It is a private conversation and I shall keep it so."

Asuma sighed. 'Dammit. You should have just gotten it over with and crushed her ideas.'

Ino squealed. "He's so cool! He's right Asuma-sensei, you shouldn't bring him into this. It isn't fair."

"I don't think that's what he was sa-"

"Of course it was! You don't know anything about Sasuke-kun! He and I are destined to be together forever, he just plays hard to get in public!"

Naruto shook his head. "Somehow I find that hard to believe. I have a better chance of getting in bed with Sasuke than you do. Actually I already slept in his bed at the same time as him, but that's about it. Although I suppose the time that we accidentally kissed on my bed also counts."

SFX: Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy

Ino swiped at Naruto. "Shut up! Just because you're his best friend doesn't mean that I can let that slide!"

Naruto jokingly hid behind Sasuke and snuggled into his shoulder. "Sasuke she's being mean to me. Save me my love."

"Please stay back. I can't control him." Sasuke said dully with an emotionless look on his face.

Ino sat back down with another huff. "If Sasuke-kun says to, then I'll let you off the hook this time Naruto."

Kiba sighed. "Sometimes I feel like a side character around you guys."

Naruto raised his eyebrow. "Then talk more."

"I've tried that. It's like you guys just stop hearing me sometimes."

Naruto pondered for a moment. "Oh yeah. Well I guess that started when you started to talk about your weird fantasies with the female academy teachers. I just started tuning you out."

Sasuke nodded. "Same. Does he still do that or can we start paying attention to him again?"

"How would I know? I've been tuning him out too! It's like every time he talks, a narrator from the sky starts talking over him."

This was a topic that would continue to plague team 7 for years to come. Just what was this seemingly omnipotent force causing no one to hear Kiba and somehow block out his voice? Is Kiba an important person in history? Will Naruto ever wear two matching socks?

Kiba started looking annoyed. "Hey didn't you guys hear me!? I asked you a question."

Naruto and Sasuke tilted their heads. "You did? Must have been that thing that blocks you again."

"You guys are just making that up!"

Kakashi looked up from his book. "Did you say something Kiba?"

"Ughhhhhhhh. Not you too Kakashi-sensei!"

 **A Few Hours Later, The Chamber Library**

Naruto dropped down into a chair with a heavy sigh. "Man, researching is hard."

Kiba laid down across a few chairs and relaxed. "Sure, but it's only so hard on you because you have tons of clones do your work for you. Didn't the Hokage tell you to be careful about that? Something about high levels of mental strain affecting your performance in the field?"

"Pshh, ignore Jiji, I'll be perfectly fine. I just need to rest a bit and I'll be back up to peak performance." Naruto said, waving his hand at Kiba.

A few minutes later, Sasuke came back after finishing his own research and plopped down in a chair as well. "well let's talk about something important for a change. Do you think that you should tell Kakashi-sensei about your light style?" Sasuke asked. "It might be useful for him to know so that he can use it in his strategies on a mission."

Naruto tilted his head. "Huh, I guess that makes sense. Sure I guess."

Before they could say anything else, Kiba sat up with a raised eyebrow. "Hold up, are you really making a decision like that on a whim? Kakashi-sensei is cool and all, but don't you think you might want to wait a bit before you tell him something like that? It's not just something that you let people know after knowing them for a couple of days.

"Nah, it's fine. Everyone knows that dad taught him, so he can't be too bad. Besides, if it really ends up being a problem we can always have Jiji swear him to secrecy or something, he has to do what he says."

 **The Next Day, Training Ground 3**

"So, today we're really going to be analyzing and talking about your skills and assets. I already know everything that you've shown in the academy, but is there anything else?" Kakashi inquired.

Sasuke and Kiba shook their heads, but Naruto rose his hand. "Well there are a couple of things. I'll have to physically take you to one of the things though."

Kakashi nodded. "That's fine. What is it?"

"Well I guess first off I should tell you that everyone here already knows about the nine-tails being inside of me."

Another nod from Kakashi. "As expected. I guessed that you would have told your two most trusted friends by now. What else?"

"Well I can do light ninjutsu." He said as he raised his hand up and gave the same light shuriken demonstration that he gave the other two before. "I'll tell you how I can do it later."

Kakashi examined the shuriken of light that had popped into existence. "Fascinating. I can't wait to know how you can do that."

Naruto nodded and made the shuriken disappear. "No problem. Next though is kind of different. You were the fourth Hokage's student right?"

Kakashi also nodded. "I was."

"So basically to cut to the point, if you didn't already know, he's my dad. I also know who my mom is."

Kakashi's eyes bulged. "I did know that, but how did you find out Naruto? That's an even bigger secret than the nine-tails."

"Jiji told me."

A sigh came from Kakashi. "Of course he did. And he didn't see fit to tell me that you knew this."

"Eh." Naruto shrugged. "Now that we got that out of the way, let's go ahead and go to that place that I was talking about before. That is, if you're willing to go on a little field trip of sorts."

Kakashi agreed and they took off towards the chambers. Naruto went through the normal procedure for introducing the chambers to people. Kakashi took it remarkably well actually. They added him to the chambers system and purely out of laziness, just trained in the chambers arena and training rooms.

 **3 Months later, Mission Room, Konohagakure no Sato**

Hiruzen sighed. "Well I've been assigning you all high level D-rank missions for the past two months or giving you mandatory training, but I suppose that now is as good of a time as ever to give you your first C-rank mission."

Naruto jumped up in joy. "Wooo! I knew that you were just holding out on us Jiji! What are we gonna do?"

"Your mission will be to escort a bridge builder to the land of waves and stay there for the duration of the build. You will defend him from any threats that come his way, and you will also be expected to protect the land of waves and its people by extension. We have reason to believe that the client was lying about the difficulty of the mission, and so we are sending you four to attempt this." He explained.

"With Kakashi by your side, anything that goes wrong should be handled rather easily. You three are also extremely talented genin, especially for your age, so I believe that you are the best team to send out on this mission disguised as a C-rank mission. You are the best team to blend into the proper roles while still being skilled enough to have a high chance of completing your mission. Remember to use the fact that your opponents will underestimate you to your advantage. I would also like for you all to secretly learn about the true nature of the mission. Unless you believe the mission to be beyond your skill level entirely or it is too late to back out, I want you to try to complete the mission."

Kakashi nodded and took the scroll. "Team 7 accepts this C-rank mission Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen gestured to the guard posted at the door. "Bring the client in."

The guard left the room, and about a minute later he walked back in with an elderly man wearing a loose green robe, black pants, sandals, a towel around his neck, a backpack with a bedroll on top, and a large pointed hat.

"Who're these brats? I thought I hired ninja to protect me, not someone to take care of my kid. I'm the super bridge builder Tazuna!" He slurred drunkenly.

Naruto's face contorted in an annoyed expression. "Kakashi-sensei can I kill him?"

"No Naruto. You remember what happened last time you did that." Kakashi responded casually.

"I only killed him a little bit!"

Sasuke face palmed. "Naruto either you kill someone or you don't. Make up your mind."

"Fine! Can I at least punch him?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No. No injuring the client. Sorry about that Tazuna-san. Naruto here gets a little bit rowdy sometimes."

Tazuna's face paled at the conversation that they had. "Yeah it's no problem. Just make sure that I'm protected! I'm a very important man!"

"Yes I'm sure that you are. How does meeting us at the village gates at noon tomorrow sound to you?"

Tazuna stumbled and nodded. "Yeah sure whatever. Just so long as I can finish my bridge."

 **The Next Day, Konoha Gates, 12:05**

Tazuna tapped his foot on the ground impatiently. It was five minutes after the agreed meeting time and only the Jounin and one Genin were present.

'Where the hell is that blond brat and the dog kid? We need to get going so that I can finish the bridge.'

At that moment Naruto rushed out around the street corner and ran to the group. "Sorry I'm late guys! I just wanted to make sure that I had everything stocked so that we're ready for anything!"

Tazuna raised his eyebrow at Naruto's lack of supplies. "Are you sure that one backpack is gonna be enough for you?"

"Yeah don't worry about it. I've got all of my stuff sealed in scrolls in here. I wouldn't have been able to fit all of my stuff in even the biggest bags, so this is way more efficient." He nodded. "But forget about that, where's Kiba?"

Kakashi stepped forward. "Apparently there were some last minute clan meetings that he needed to attend in Suna. Hokage-sama informed me that we have a substitute coming in, and it's someone who you know well."

Naruto tilted his head. "Someone that I know well? Well I don't really know that many people too well besides Sasuke and Kiba. That just leaves….."

"Hey Goldie! Sorry I'm late!" A voice called from behind him.

Naruto whipped around to see the approaching figure running towards him. "Tenten?! You're going on the mission with us?"

Tenten flew into Naruto and wrapped him in a hug. "Yeah! Neji, Lee, and Guy-sensei had to go on some other mission in the land of tea, and Hokage-sama told me that you guys were missing a member so I had to go with you instead. Isn't this great? Now we'll have plenty of time together! You've been spending less and less time with me lately since you got your Genin team you know."

Naruto sweat a little bit. "Oh yeah? Uhh…..well that's cool, now we'll get to train together more. Yay?"

Tenten let go and straightened out. "Yeah! Now let's go, we're already running a few minutes late."

Kakashi nodded. "I agree. If everyone is ready to go, we should get going now."

With that, they all went through the proper paperwork to leave the village and set out on the road towards the land of waves.

 **3 Days Later, Road To Wave**

As they were walking, Naruto noticed a small puddle of water up ahead to the right side of the path under a tree.

'That's weird. It hasn't rained around here in a while. Why would there be a puddle in the grass on the side of the road? Remnants of a water jutsu maybe? Nah, we would see other signs of a fight or jutsu testing. An enemy maybe? Jiji said that we didn't know what to expect on the mission.'

Naruto flashed a few hand signals to Kakashi to relay his finding with general Konoha shinobi hand signals. Unfortunately they couldn't use the ones specific to team 7 since Tenten needed to understand as well. Kakashi responded back a few seconds later.

'So Kakashi-sensei knows too then huh? If the other two didn't already know about it, they do now. Kakashi-sensei said to prepare for it but still wait to find out what they want, so I guess we just have to wait for them to move first.'

As they started to pass by the puddle, two Kirigakure shinobi wearing cloaks and rebreathers jumped out of the puddle at the group. They each wrapped their chains around Kakashi and ripped him apart. Or at least so they thought, but they actually just ripped up a substitution log.

"One down. Get the old man!"

Both ninja directed themselves at Tazuna and lunged at full force, leaving small dust clouds behind them.

Naruto slammed his hands down on the ground in front of himself quickly as they began to jump.

 **"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"** A thick wall of rock shot up in front of Tazuna and blocked the path of the Kiri nin.

They both halted their attack with a curse and attempted to run around either side. As they emerged from the cover, each of them was faced with a clone of Naruto.

"A clone from a Genin isn't going to stop us! Die bridge builder!" The one on the right yelled as they both shot out their chains from their gauntlets towards Tazuna, attempting to shoot straight through the assumed illusionary clones.

What they didn't expect was for the clones to be solid. However they didn't just hit normal shadow clones. On impact, the blades of the chains impaled the chests of the clones and got stuck, then the clones slowly began to turn into mud.

"Dammit! A mud shadow clone?!"

Tenten came up behind the ninja on the left and placed two straight edged swords around his neck while Sasuke did the same to the one on the right and held kunai to his throat.

"Gotcha." Sasuke smirked.

Kakashi appeared from the tree line and tied the shinobi up after taking their gear and left them tied up on the ground next to him. He then stood up and turned to Tazuna.

"So, would you like to explain to us why two high C-rank missing ninja were after you even though this is only categorized as a low C-rank mission? At best we're supposed to be protecting you from the occasional bandit." Kakashi said seriously in a low and threatening tone.

Tazuna stepped back. "I don't know what you're talking about! I don't even know who they are!"

Kakashi took two steps toward him in response. "Yes I'm sure that you aren't acquainted with these two specifically, but I noticed that they're specifically after you. Why? Don't even consider lying, I'm essentially the second strongest ninja in all of Konoha, and I can tell when someone is lying."

Tazuna slumped down. "Well you saved my life, so I guess that you deserve an answer. I lied about the ranking of the mission because even all together, the land of waves didn't have enough money to pay for a higher ranking mission. Wave is currently being held hostage in a way by Gato, the owner of the Gato shipping corporation. He controls the entire border of the wave country, and doesn't allow us to trade at all. My bridge is the only thing at this point that can change that, so he's doing everything that he can to stop me from getting it done. I'm the only actual person in wave who knows how to do that type of thing, and everyone else just takes orders from me. Without me, the bridge would never be completed."

Kakashi sighed. "I see. Although if you had discussed this with Hokage-sama, we most likely could have come to a compromise and set up a deal where you could pay us over time after wave gets back on its feet again. Due to your actions, we now have a Genin team 3 days into a mission of near unforeseeable rank. I don't know if it's wise to continue now. If Gato is as rich as the rumors say, he may be able to hire a missing ninja more powerful than these guys, and possibly even someone who could match my strength. I may be powerful, but I don't know if I can protect you and three Genin from a ninja of that skill level."

Kakashi signed to the team behind his back while speaking to relay a message.

'Make a fuss. We're going on the mission. Make Konoha look good.'

Naruto jumped in literally and figuratively. "Come on Kakashi-sensei, we're awesome! We can take whatever that guy can throw at us! Besides, we can't just ignore needy people. That isn't what Konoha ninja do!"

Kakashi internally smiled. 'Nice one Naruto. This sets us up perfectly.' He thought as he turned to the other two.

"And what about you two? Do you feel the same way?" He asked.

Sasuke smirked once again. "Of course. Some grubby rich guy isn't gonna stop us."

Tenten nodded as well. "Yeah! I may not be an actual member of this team, but I know that we can do this!"

Kakashi eye smiled at them quickly before turning around to face Tazuna with a sigh. "Of course they do. Well I suppose that they're right, as long as it doesn't turn out to be anything outrageous, we should be able to deal with it."

Tazuna looked up. "So you mean you'll still go?"

"Yes, we'll go. But I want to make it very clear that this is a special case. I want you to make sure that from now on, you're completely honest with us for everything. I don't want my team to be in danger just because you didn't feel like sharing. Understood?"

Tazuna nodded his head quickly.

"Good." Kakashi sighed. "Well then now we need to decide what to do with these two." He said, turning to the Kiri nin. "Even if we call a hunter team to come pick them up and hold them until we get back, they can always just use the rope escape jutsu that everyone learns. We'll want them so that we can get the bounties and retrieve any secrets from them."

Naruto popped up. "Oh that's easy. Hold on. I have something for this."

After a few seconds of searching for something in his bag, Naruto pulled out two small square sheets of paper only about the size of his palms.

"Feast your eyes everyone. Chakra suppression seals! We can just stick these on em, and they won't be able to use their chakra at all."

"Uhh….not to be rude, but don't you ninja usually kill your captured targets?" Tazuna interjected.

Kakashi turned around slowly. "Ah….well we can just leave that to the hunter squad."

Naruto quirked his eyebrow. "Well actually he's right. You told us that killing them is protocol so that they can't escape. Then you seal the head in a scroll. Right?"

Kakashi sighed sadly. He didn't want them to face the realization of the shinobi world so soon. He had taught them about it of course, it was an important thing to know. However he was desperately trying to shelter them from the world.

'I can't let them turn out like me. Come on Kakashi, think. Think. Think. Think. What would Minato-sensei do in this situation?'

…..

'Actually he would have gotten it over with. I really only experienced his teachings during war, so I guess it was more brutal. A fuck it, let's jump right in.'

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah I guess you're right Naruto. In that case you should be the one to do it."

Naruto faltered and began to sweat. "W-What? S-Shouldn't y-you do it?" Naruto wavered and took a step back. He had brought it up, but he hadn't expected Kakashi to reverse it on him.

"I know how you feel Naruto, but it has to happen at some point. I've kept you guys safe from this type of thing up until now for certain reasons and held back a little bit in training. I'm sure that Tenten has gone through it before right Tenten?" He asked hopefully.

Tenten shook her head. "No, only Lee and Neji have. Neji didn't really have too much of a problem with it, and Lee accidentally did it on our second C-rank. I haven't done it yet though."

"Dammit Guy. I know that he can be soft, but I didn't think that a yearlong Genin under his command wouldn't have done it yet." Kakashi said in disbelief. "Alright, well I guess that's up to Guy, but I'm going to sit you down with him when we get back and have a long discussion. As for you Naruto, follow me. The rest of you go a little while away in the opposite direction. The screams might be loud, but just try to ignore it."

Tazuna gulped and nodded before walking quickly in the opposite direction. Tenten and Sasuke soon followed.

Kakashi called to their retreating forms. "I don't want any of you trying to snoop! Especially you Sasuke! Sharingan is off limits!"

He turned back to Naruto. "Come on Naruto, pick up one of them and let's move a little bit further away."

Naruto picked up the smaller of the two and shouldered him before following Kakashi far into the forest with a squeamish look on his face.

'This wasn't supposed to happen. It was one comment. I didn't volunteer for this. I don't want to kill someone. It's just a C-rank mission. I know that Jiji said it might be harder, but I didn't think that I would have to kill someone. I can't do this, even if it's someone who tried to kill me.'

Kakashi stopped in a small clearing far away from the road and set the Kiri nin down. "Go on Naruto, just set him down nice and easy. I'll help you through this."

Naruto set the man down and stepped away. "Come on Kakashi-sensei, can't you do this?"

Kakashi's face switched to a stern look. "Naruto. You need to do this."

"No I don't! Why?!"

"Naruto…." Kakashi sighed. "This is a part of shinobi life whether you like it or not. Either you kill now, kill later, or be killed later. You can make your choice, but if you do it now while you aren't in danger, you'll be able to work through it better." He reasoned.

Naruto looked down. "But I can't kill someone. It's another person's life! Isn't that worth anything?"

"Naruto if you hadn't stopped them, either of these men would have killed you without a second thought. It's you or them, and you're lucky that you can do this safely. You don't have to revel in it, but as a shinobi you do have to accept killing as a part of your lifestyle." Kakashi explained sadly. "Unless of course you want to stay a Genin doing only D-rank missions for the rest of your life. That would mean giving up your dream to be Hokage of course."

Naruto flinched at the thought of giving up his dream. He had made the declaration that he would become Hokage no matter what multiple times, and this couldn't stop him. Naruto steeled himself and straightened out.

"Alright, I'll do it." Naruto said as he began to form hand seals for a jutsu.

Kakashi stopped his hands. "No jutsu. You have to use your kunai to kill them. Then you cut off their heads with the serrated knife in your pouch."

Naruto gulped and pulled out a kunai. As he looked down he noticed that his hands were shaking violently. The thought of taking another person's life was unbearable to him. He could feel hot bile in his throat.

"Do it Naruto. Get it over with quickly in one movement for each."

He advanced towards the two men as they thrashed around and emitted muffled screams. He approached the first man and pointed the kunai at his opponent's heart. His hands were still shaking even as the kunai approached the man's chest.

Naruto slowed and panted harder and harder. 'Come on Uzumaki. You can do this. Come on. Come on. Come on. It's just a stab. You can do this in your sleep.'

Naruto lunged towards the first man with a bloodcurdling scream and sank the kunai in-between the man's ribs. It was a smooth cut, completely textbook, no different from the training.

So why was it so different?

It was just one man. One man who tried his best to kill him and his friends. A man who deserted his village and betrayed his people. A man like this was scum… Right?

Naruto lifted his head and fully opened his eyes. He looked into the ninja's eyes and saw the life leave them. The man's body stopped writhing and slumped down, no longer resisting gravity. His body slid off of Naruto's kunai and onto the ground.

Naruto could barely hear anything due to the blood pumping through his ears and head so fast that he could only faintly hear the muffled screams of the now dead man's partner. He could hear the man crying and screaming for help. He could hear his own heavy breathing as he began to hyperventilate.

He looked down and saw that his jacket, shirt, and pants were all splattered heavily with blood, as well as his face being splattered. He didn't care though, they were just clothes. He had taken another person's life.

He faintly heard Kakashi's voice. "Good. Move to the second one." He said, not wanting to let Naruto have any time to reflect on his actions before finishing the job,

Naruto gulped and turned to the still very much alive thrashing man and pointed his kunai towards his heart.

'Just like the last one and it'll be over. Come on Uzumaki.' He thought without even recognizing the tears streaming down his face.

Once again, he lunged at the second man for a decisive blow. Except this time it didn't all go so smoothly.

Naruto hit the man's rib, which clearly hurt the man but came nowhere near killing him. He lunged again, but this time his aim was even worse. He now collided with the ninja's left shoulder and gouging deep in. Blood sprayed and splattered on Naruto's arm and body even more.

'Come on, just die already! Please just die. I can't stop this!'

He once again lunged, only this time to miss the man completely and impact with the ground next to him.

Naruto straddled on the man's abdomen and tried to strike again, this time finally hitting the heart. Apparently he had hit very vital points because as soon as he did, blood came spraying out all over his clothes and skin, covering his face even more than before.

Naruto, in his crazed state, didn't recognize that the man was dead yet. He continued to stab again and again.

The stomach.

The neck.

The heart again.

He continued to stab until Kakashi's hand caught him by the wrists. "It's over Naruto. They're dead. You still have to get the heads."

Naruto fell back onto the grass behind him, shaking uncontrollably. "Please don't make me. Just let me go."

Kakashi propped up Naruto and held out the serrated knife. "It has to happen Naruto. Just do it quickly and we can be done with this."

Naruto nodded painfully and took the knife. He quickly sawed off the heads of the ninja, splattering even more blood on himself. He no longer cared, he just wanted this hell to end. He sealed the heads inside of a scroll and marked it before dropping it in front of Kakashi and vomiting all over the ground.

Kakashi grabbed Naruto and wrapped around him. "It's over now Naruto. You're done. They're dead."

Naruto grabbed onto Kakashi and started to cry uncontrollably while screaming in anguish.

"Shhhh. I know Naruto. It's over."

Naruto shook his head violently. "I killed them. They're gone because of me. They could have had people who cared about them, people that they knew, and I just ended that. It's all my fault. I watched the life leave their eyes! They could have changed and become different people! I just took that away from them!" He yelled in partially sadness and part anger.

Kakashi highly doubted that what Naruto said was true, but he didn't comment on it. "I know Naruto, but they were the enemy. They were trying to not only kill you, but your teammates too. They were the first, but they certainly won't be the last. You're going to have to kill again and again to survive in this world Naruto. I wish that things could be different, but they aren't. I'm sorry."

And so Naruto wept and sobbed until he ran out of tears and energy to cry anymore. After that he just screamed until he passed out with a pained look on his face.

Kakashi pocketed the scroll and used a fire jutsu to burn the bodies. He then picked up Naruto and carried him back to the rest of the team.

When he began to approach the area, the forms of Tenten, Sasuke, and Tazuna came running towards him.

Sasuke jumped ahead and landed first. He looked wide eyed at Naruto's unconscious form. "Is he alright?!"

Kakashi nodded. "He'll live, but I think that he might have this weighing down on him for a little while. The first one went alright and he finished it in one hit, but the second one… There was a problem."

Tenten examined Naruto's bloodstained body. "What kind of problem?! Naruto is completely accurate in a close up situation."

Kakashi looked down. "Naruto missed the heart and hit the rib instead because the ninja was writhing too much. Not to mention Naruto was already shaking enough beforehand. He started to get less and less accurate. He hit the shoulder, then the ground, then he finally hit the heart. He died after a few stabs, but Naruto couldn't tell. After that he started to stab the man all over before I was able to stop him. He still went through with cutting off their heads though."

They all gagged violently at the thought, and Tazuna even vomited.

Kakashi leaned Naruto against a tree before standing up and facing the group. "It's starting to get dark, so we should set up camp while we still can. Sasuke you're on second watch after me. Tenten you're on third. Shifts are going to be a bit longer tonight without Naruto, but we'll have to deal with it. Tenten, start helping me set up the tents while Sasuke gathers firewood and hunts for some food. If Naruto wakes up, make sure that he doesn't move around too much before he talks to me."

Tenten and Sasuke nodded and began their tasks, both of them sparing long worrying glances at Naruto.

 **Three Hours Later, Team 7 Campsite, 9:00 PM**

Tenten whipped around as Naruto stirred awake. She rushed over to him and helped him up. Once she was sure that he was conscious enough, she let him drink a little bit of water from his canteen before setting him back down.

"It's alright Naruto. Don't try to move, I'm gonna go get Kakashi-sensei." She said as she sprinted off to Kakashi's location.

A few seconds later, Kakashi appeared next to Naruto. "How are you feeling Naruto?"

Naruto just shook his head slightly before drooping his head to the side.

Kakashi sighed. It was to be expected after what happened, but he was hoping that Naruto would be able to spring back well enough. 'Maybe this wasn't the best time to do this. I hope that Naruto can recover before we run into any more trouble.'

"Do you ever get used to it Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto groaned painfully.

Kakashi paused for a second to consider the question. "…No Naruto, you never truly get used to it. You only bear the pain and try your best to ignore it. You have to remember that you did what you did for a reason, and that you have to keep fighting for what you still have." He responded carefully.

"What I still have?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah. Think about it for a second. You've got me, Tenten, Sasuke, Kiba, Lee, Guy, Iruka, the Ichiraku family, and Hokage-sama right?"

Naruto nodded.

"Well there you go. And plus, you want to be Hokage someday right?" He asked.

Another nod. "Of course. It's always been my dream."

"And you still want to be Hokage?"

A nod.

"Well there you go then. A Hokage isn't just a strong individual, a Hokage is someone who cares for the village and all of its inhabitants. So in a way, you've got everyone in the village to fight for. Right?"

Naruto pondered the statement for a moment. The villagers didn't exactly treat him correctly, but the Hokage had once said something similar to him about the Hokage being more than just a powerful figure in the village. "Yeah I guess so."

Kakashi slightly eye-smiled. "Well then you have a lot. You have everyone in the village to keep fighting for, isn't that right?"

Naruto straightened out and thought for a second before responding. "Yeah. If I'm gonna be Hokage, I can't let something like this stop me. I have to keep going no matter what, even if I have to dirty my hands a little bit to get there. I swear that I'll protect the village with my life. I have to."

Kakashi nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Now come on, let's get you something to eat. Sasuke caught rabbits." He said as he pulled Naruto up and guided him lightly towards the food. Not everything had gone wrong, at least part of Naruto was back. Although he doubted that he would ever completely revert back to his old personality. No one would be able to predict how Naruto's personality would take a turn.

 **3 Days Later, Road To Wave**

Sasuke watched Naruto silently as they all walked down the path. Ever since the Kiri nin incident, Naruto hadn't been completely the same. He may have tried to hide it, but Sasuke had known him long enough to see when he was seriously messed up. Naruto was far more subdued than ever before, and he couldn't completely get a good read on him.

Naruto still refused to talk about the events that had happened three days prior, but based off of Kakashi's descriptions, they knew that Naruto had seriously been broken pretty badly. In addition, Naruto had also been insanely alert and over the top in security since they were attacked. Whatever happened, it really changed his world view.

'Is that what your first kill does to you? Does it mess you up and change who you are? How am I going to change when I kill for the first time? I always thought that I would never change or waver, but when I kill someone will I start to change into a different person? Will I become more like Itachi?' Sasuke thought to himself worriedly.

He had always seen himself as someone with an unwavering will. But over the course of the last year and three months, he had come to see Naruto in that exact same way. Now he had to witness that very person that he had come to respect as an unwavering friend crumble from something that Sasuke himself would have to face one day. It bothered him far more than anything else to consider that he could ever come closer to being more like his brother, the murderer of his own clan.

'NO! I would never hurt anyone close to me on purpose, and neither would Naruto! He and I both promised along with Kiba to always protect our friends, and so that's how it's gonna be no matter what happens.'

He was cut out of his thoughts when Naruto shot a kunai into the bushes up ahead. They all advanced towards the area that he had thrown. When they looked past the bushes, they saw a white rabbit laying dead on the ground with Naruto's kunai sticking out of it.

Sasuke tensed. 'A substitution. If you're going to use a live animal for substitution, at least make it blend in.'

It seemed like the rest of the team had come to the same conclusion, because all of them had rushed back onto the path and surrounded Tazuna. Rightly so, because a huge cleaver-like sword came flying through the bush and stuck high into a tree.

Seconds after, a tall man who was shirtless, with his chest only covered by a belt for a sword, wearing baggy pants with the striped pattern typical of Kirigakure and mimetic wrist-warmers extending up to his elbows, with matching leg-warmers.

The man spoke in a deep and intimidating voice. "Well well well. I never expected to see Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan here protecting a lowly bridge builder. You're strong enough that you even made it into my own personal bingo book. Legend has it that you've copied over one thousand jutsu with that eye of yours."

Kakashi tightened his stance. "Likewise. I wouldn't have expected someone like the legendary Zabuza Momochi of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to be working for Gato."

Tenten's eye glinted. "Zabuza Momochi, famed as the strongest wielder of the Kubikiribōchō, one of the seven legendary swords of the mist and a master of the silent killing technique. It's said that he can kill a group of people without them even noticing that he was ever there. High A-rank class ninja and a missing-nin of Kirigakure. It's also said that during the graduation exam for Kiri, he just walked in and killed the entire class. He is known…as the Demon of the Hidden Mist." She said as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her head.

Zabuza laughed darkly. "Looks like you've done your research girl. A fan maybe?"

Tenten nodded lightly. "Of course. I'm a fan of all of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, but only from afar. I'm honestly more obsessed with the swords themselves."

"I see. Well it's your lucky day. If you all turn over the bridge builder, you'll get to see my sword and live. But if you refuse, you'll get to see it up close and live a lot less." He confidently bargained.

Kakashi grimaced. "You don't really expect us to believe that do you? Even if we turn over Tazuna, you'll still kill us anyway."

Zabuza grinned under his mask. "Maybe so, maybe not. So what'll it be?"

Naruto now interjected. "You aren't getting jack shit from us. We'll protect the client until the very end and make sure that we succeed at this mission! And I'll never let a comrade die!"

"Impressive resolve, but it's meaningless unless you can actually back it up. Although I guess that's a pretty clear answer, so here I come."

 **"Hidden Mist Jutsu."** Zabuza whispered as the fog around the area got considerably thicker until no one could see more than a foot in front of themselves.

Naruto ran through hand signs quickly. "I don't have to deal with this bullshit! Get down guys!"

The whole group dropped deep to the ground. Kakashi looked up at Naruto. "Naruto what are y-"

 **"Vacuum Serial Waves!"** He yelled loudly as he spun around and released a wide and powerful jet of wind from his mouth, effectively creating a huge dome of violent winds and clearing away the thick mist around the group. Of course, it also tore apart a lot of trees in the surrounding area.

Zabuza barely jumped back and avoided suffering a similar fate to the trees. He rose his sword in front of him to block multiple pieces of tree flying at him.

Kakashi stood up and looked around. "Well I suppose that it works. Good job Naruto, that insane amount of chakra of yours really makes jutsu like that effective."

Zabuza growled as he jumped in front of the group several meters away. "Just what the hell are you feeding your Genin Kakashi?!"

Naruto clearly didn't feel like letting Kakashi answer as he finished preparing his next jutsu. He locked his arms out in front of him and layered his left hand in front of his right with his palms facing Zabuza. A bright light began to pool in front of and around Naruto's hands.

 **"Light Beam!"** The light chakra that Naruto had gathered sprouted out in a beam of light that was a couple of feet in diameter.

Zabuza substituted with a large chunk of a tree near him to get out of the way. The chunk was made into two pieces as a large majority of it was obliterated from the middle. Naruto swept the beam towards Zabuza and managed to catch him by colliding with Kubikiribōchō and putting Zabuza on the defensive.

The beam gouged into the blade about a third of the thickness before disappearing.

Zabuza jumped further away and took a stance that was ready to leap away again. "What the hell is this brat?! A beam of light? Your kids are insane Hatake!"

Kakashi sweatdropped. "Ah….sorry about that. He isn't usually like this, but he recently made his first kill and it didn't go so well. He isn't too patient right now."

Zabuza growled. "Whatever, the kid might have some semi-powerful ninjutsu, but I'm still a Jounin in speed and strength." He said as he disappeared and reappeared in front of Naruto, colliding his knee with his stomach and flinging Naruto across the clearing. "Stay down for now kid, you can't touch me."

Kakashi caught Naruto before he hit the ground and let him down slowly.

Naruto groaned painfully. 'This guy moved way faster than I can even when I take my weights off. I'm not even close to his level. What the fuck is wrong with me? All that training, and I'm still barely at the starting line. I can't even stop one twisted asshole trying to kill my team.'

"That may be so, but I can. Since my student here took care of your mist, we're on even grounds now." He said as he sprinted towards Zabuza with a Kunai coated in lightning chakra.

"Bring it on Kakashi."

 **A Few Minutes Later**

Kakashi had eventually managed to land a huge Great Waterfall Technique on Zabuza before he himself could do so. Kakashi began to approach Zabuza until a Kiri hunter-nin appeared in the tree above and threw two senbon needles into his neck.

"Thank you for taking care of Zabuza for me. I had been tracking him for quite a while, so your help is very much appreciated. I'll be taking the body now. Kiri thanks you for your service."

Naruto groaned. "Hold on, aren't you supposed to cut off the head?"

The hunter-nin grabbed Zabuza and disappeared instantly as soon as Naruto said that. Naruto would have complained about the abrupt leave, but soon Kakashi fell over face first into the dirt.

Tenten rushed over to him and checked all over him for any signs of serious injury. "What's wrong Kakashi-sensei? Did you get injured?"

Kakashi slightly shook his head. "No, I just used up too much chakra. The Sharingan takes a lot out of me, so I have to be careful with how much I use it."

She sighed in relief. As long as he wasn't injured physically, he would be fine soon enough and wouldn't have any lasting effects. "Alright then guys, let's pick up Kakashi-sensei and get going. The sooner that we can get to wave, the better. We don't need to risk anymore encounters."

Sasuke walked over and helped while Naruto followed soon after, still bitter about how easily he was crushed by Zabuza. Watching the battle between the two Jounin, he could easily tell that they were both insanely out of his league. The recent events of his first kills weren't helping his mental state much either.

 **An Hour Later, Tazuna's House**

Tazuna knocked on the front door of his house. A few seconds later, a woman with a pink shirt and very dark blue hair. "Dad you're back! And you brought shinobi with you like you said!"

Tazuna nodded. "Of course I'm back, I'm a super bridge builder. We need to get inside though, these ninja protected me and one of them is passed out."

"Oh of course! Thank you so much for protecting him, let's get him lying down upstairs. I'm Tsunami by the way." She said as she directed them inside.

"It's not like we expected to protect him from that shit." Naruto scoffed, still extremely displeased with the way that the mission had unfolded so far.

Tazuna looked down at the ground in shame. "I'm sorry about all of this. I should have just been honest with all of you from the start and none of this would have happened."

Naruto brushed past him with Kakashi over his shoulder. "You're damn right, it wouldn't have."

Tenten bowed respectively towards Tsunami. "Thank you for your hospitality." She said quickly. Once Naruto was out of earshot, she spoke again. "I'm sorry about Naruto. He's gone through a lot lately and the encounter with a high level enemy ninja didn't go so well for him."

Tsunami shook her head. "It's alright. I know that it must be upsetting that my father deceived all of you. I don't expect a friendly response right off the bat."

Sasuke also walked past silently and went upstairs to help Naruto with Kakashi. Brooding was also something that he had experience with, so he thought that he might be able to help with dealing with that.

 **Two Days Later, Tazuna's House**

It was currently Naruto's shift to watch Kakashi, and a few hours in he noticed his sensei's eyes flick open.

Kakashi groaned. "Ughhh. How long was I out?"

"About two days. We're in Tazuna's house." Naruto responded sluggishly.

Kakashi noticed that Naruto had very dark circles under his eyes and his shoulders were tight.

…

Kakashi sighed. "I see. You're tense Naruto."

Naruto scoffed for not the first time in the past few days. "How could I not be? We fight an A-rank ninja on your level and I got tossed around like a beanbag during the nine-tails festival, and you've been out for two days afterwards. Not to mention we're up against an insanely rich and evil guy who could potentially hire more like Zabuza. Of course I'm tense."

"But that isn't the only reason. You're still thinking about those two kiri nin." Kakashi stated blandly.

Naruto whipped his head around and looked at Kakashi. "Of course I am."

Another sigh emanated from Kakashi. "I'm sorry about that. It wasn't supposed to happen like that at all. It was supposed to be over quickly so that we could have a real talk."

Naruto placed his head on his scrunched up knees. "Well I'm here now, so how about that talk?"

"Well it's somewhat less effective now, but I suppose so. Let's start with simple. How do you feel?" He asked simply.

Naruto chuckled lightly. "Angry? Scared? Weak maybe?"

"Well Naruto I can certainly tell you that you aren't weak. The first kill is almost always one of the hardest, and it usually makes people feel like that. Considering how your first kills went, I think that you're actually holding up pretty well. Anyway, you aren't weak Naruto. You're actually extremely skilled for a fairly fresh Genin, and even a chunin. If anything, that's probably why you feel that way. You know that you're strong, and you think that you should be stronger than this." He explained slowly.

"You think that you should be able to push through this obstacle easier than this and not have to worry about it. Over the past year or so, the feeling of being weak has become somewhat foreign to you, so when you encounter something that makes you feel inferior that isn't another person with higher rank, you get scared and you start to feel weak compared to the rest of the world."

Naruto didn't say anything, but it was clear that Kakashi had hit the nail right on the head.

Kakashi paused for a moment to let his comments sink in before continuing. "As for feeling angry…Well you could be feeling angry at yourself for killing those two. You're sitting there telling yourself that it's your fault, and that it could have been avoided. You're probably telling yourself that somewhere in the world, those two had someone who cared for them or was expecting them to come back. You probably think that you mercilessly took their lives away from them and any chances at redemption too. I would know, I felt the same way after my first kill."

Naruto now looked up at Kakashi and nodded. "Yeah that makes sense…..But I'm afraid that I'm turning into someone else. I don't wanna change Kakashi-sensei. I just want to be Naruto Uzumaki."

"Well tell me something Naruto. Did you enjoy killing those men?"

"No! Of course not." Naruto said quickly in a panic.

"So you didn't enjoy killing them, and you didn't want to, but you understood that it was necessary?"

Naruto nodded slowly.

"Well in that case, I don't think that we have any reason to worry. You're still you and you always will be." Kakashi eye smiled.

Naruto almost stood up to go inform the others that Kakashi was awake, but he stopped and settled back down. "There is one more thing though…." He hesitated. "I- I noticed something that concerns me."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably in his spot. "Well I cried after I killed them…...but I can't cry about it anymore. No matter how much I think about their deaths, or how I would feel if someone killed a loved one of mine…I can't cry about it. It's like I don't have tears anymore."

Kakashi inwardly sighed. 'Ah. Sooner than I would have expected, but it's a good thing.'

"Well that probably just means that you've gotten used to it now. Death I mean. Overall it's a good thing."

"How is getting used to death a good thing? Doesn't that meant that I'm getting closer to enjoying it?" He asked genuinely curious as to why it would be a good thing.

With a tilt of his head and a finger to his chin, Kakashi answered. "You told me that you still want to become Hokage, that you'll protect Konoha. To do that, you are going to have to be a ninja. You swore that even if you have to dirty your hands a little bit in the process, you'll become Hokage and protect everyone. It might be sad, but death is a large part of the life of a ninja." He explained. "Whether it be you killing someone else or someone you know dying, as a ninja you will eventually end up surrounded by death. I wouldn't wish it on you, but if Konoha enters a war in your lifetime, you'll have to deal with that. Of course, the alternative is quitting your dream."

Naruto started to sweat a little bit. "So I either get used to death or quit being a ninja?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Luckily for you, you seem to have acclimated remarkably well to it subconsciously. Now all you have to do is accept that death is a part of your life."

A nod came from Naruto. "I'll try…No, I will do it. I'll get that under control and get used to it fully."

"I hope that you do. There are extremely dire consequences for a shinobi who can't get past that, but it is even worse for you."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "Why?"

Kakashi sighed. "Well Naruto, it has to do with the nine-tails."

Naruto's gaze darkened a little bit. "What about it?"

"Well simply put, the nine-tails feeds on dark emotions. The time that it has the most power and control over you is when you are angry or sad. If a comrade were to die in front of you as you are now, you would lose control. The nine-tails would be able to feed it's chakra into your body easily and cause you to lose control of your body. It would not only put you at extreme risk, but also your allies. You wouldn't be able to tell friend from foe, your only instinct would be to kill and destroy. So if you can't get your emotions in check during extreme situations in involving injury or death, you will be a liability to your team and Konoha."

Suddenly, the true weight of the situation began to weigh down on Naruto's shoulders. "So then…."

Kakashi nodded. "That's right. If you aren't able to gain complete control of your emotions and aren't able to deal with death, you'll never become Hokage."

Naruto lowered down as the realization hit him in full. "I see. So if I can't do this…more people die. People that I care about."

"Yes. So you have gotten halfway there with your subconscious acceptance of death, but you need to consciously understand it." Kakashi said seriously.

Naruto nodded and stood up. "I'll work on it. I'm gonna go get Sasuke and Tenten." And with that, he walked out of the room.

Kakashi laid back down and sighed. 'Did I do that right Minato-sensei? I wish that you were here to help me with this, I have no idea how to really talk to people. Kushina-sempai would really know what to do.'

A minute later, all three Genin walked into the room.

Sasuke just sat down silently.

Tenten also sat down and said a few words. "I'm glad that you're awake Kakashi-sensei. We're going to need you when we encounter Zabuza again."

Kakashi sweatdropped. "Oh thank you everyone for your enthusiastic responses to me waking up from a chakra exhaustion induced coma." He said sarcastically.

Naruto huffed as he sat down. "Well would you like a hug?"

"Yes I would."

Naruto hesitated for a moment before actually following through. Although due to Kakashi's current state of laying down, it was more like Naruto had begun to snuggle up against him.

A quick click of a camera was heard from Sasuke's general area. "Blackmail material. You're the one who taught us that we should take every opportunity to get the upper hand."

Tenten just giggled at the sight. Naruto had actually fallen asleep almost immediately.

Kakashi pushed lightly at the boy, but he was latched on. "Come on Naruto, don't sleep on me."

Tenten continued to giggle. "He hasn't slept in over three days, so I guess laying down was too much for him. Did you talk to him or something? He seems a lot calmer than he has been over the last few days."

Kakashi nodded. "I did. Although it's up to him to disclose what we talked about."

 **Author's Note:** Hey guys! Thanks for reading the 8th chapter. It really does warm my heart every time I see a review or anything like that which shows your support. I really appreciate you guys taking the time out of your days to read anything that I create. There really isn't much to say this time around.

Warning for next couple of chapters though. Somewhat darker themes.

Other than that, thanks for reading. Have a nice day. :D


	9. Chapter 9: Surprises

**Author's Note:** Hey guys. Uhh…..sorry for taking so long. I really don't know what happened. For a while, I told myself that I was just taking a break from writing to cool down. Then a bunch of life stuff got in the way and even though I still had some time to write, I just…..didn't. So yeah, I'm really sorry about that. Pretty soon here I'll be back to school so I might go a bit slow at first, but please trust me to always eventually come back. As I have said before, I will definitely notify you if I am quitting. On the bright side, I like to think that this break has made me more mature and that my writing will be better.

 **Disclaimer:** Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the official release.

 **Important Notes:**

• Lots of dialogue early in this, I suggest that you read it so that you don't miss anything.

• In this chapter Gato's base is shown, but it's really weird and hard to explain. It is shown in episode 10 of the anime so you can go look there. It should be somewhere around 18 minutes, give or take about 30 seconds.

 **Chapter 9: Surprises**

 **The Next Day, Forest Outside of wave**

Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "Well you guys already know the tree walking, water walking, and body flicker techniques, so I don't really have any essentials to teach you for now that would help in the fight against Zabuza. Sasuke and Tenten, I'll teach you an elemental ninjutsu that doesn't belong to your affinity so that you have some more variety. Sasuke has fire and lightning jutsu and Tenten, you have a couple of earth jutsu, so it'll be important so that you can be unpredictable."

He turned to Naruto and thought for a moment. "Naruto you already have jutsu from four different elements, so I think that you're good there. I'd say just go ahead and develop your light style and crystal style as much as you can during this week. Those cause quite a bit of damage to your surroundings, so go ahead and work a little bit further away, but still where I can see you."

Naruto nodded and walked off to a space a little bit further away to practice his light ninjutsu.

Kakashi turned back to Sasuke and Tenten. "Alright, let's get to work. Sasuke, I'm going to teach you a wind release jutsu to compliment your fire style. You've seen Naruto use it before. This is a C-rank jutsu called the Gale Palm jutsu. As you probably know, it's a very useful jutsu because not only is it versatile in its usages, but it only requires you to clap your hands together to prepare it, letting you use it quickly and without fear of hand seal interruption."

Kakashi pulled out a few shuriken and threw them at a faraway tree, then he clapped his hands together and caused a powerful gust of wind to fly out from him and propel the shuriken forward, allowing them to dig completely into the tree and a little bit more.

"You see? If you were to combine that with a fire jutsu, it would make it much more lethal. It's an opposing affinity to yours, so it should take up most of your time. I'll describe the process to you in a minute." He said, turning to Tenten.

"Alright, you aren't as elementally focused as Sasuke, and certainly not anywhere near as much as Naruto. Although even though you're a lot more bukijutsu oriented, it's important to have elemental variety. You wouldn't want to run into a wind user who could counter you easily. I also want you to learn a wind style jutsu, but instead of a blunt force jutsu like Sasuke, you'll have one of the more traditional cutting wind jutsu. It's fairly simple in principle, but useful in a combat situation."

Kakashi took a moment to take a breath. "The jutsu is simply called the Wind Slash jutsu. By gathering sharp wind natured chakra over your hand or weapon, you can throw out a small but sharp curve of wind like so."

Kakashi pointed his right hand fingers together and pressed them to each other, raising it to the left side of his head and swiping in a diagonal arc to the right. The result was a three inch slice into the trunk of a thick tree. "Clearly yours won't be that strong with only a week of training, but it's certainly useful. This one requires even less preparation than the one I gave Sasuke, so it should go perfectly with your fast paced use of throwing weapons. Although I also think that throughout the duration of the mission, you should also be practicing with your usage of close range weapons. Your tetsubo would be an efficient weapon to use against wind users." He eye-smiled, happy to help a new student.

Before he could continue explaining the inner workings of the jutsu that he showed them, he noticed Naruto looking over to him in distress, silently calling him over with flashes of worry.

"Hold on a second guys, I'm going to go check on Naruto about something. Just stay here and practice some basic forms that won't consume too much chakra." He said as he began to walk over to Naruto.

Once he arrived, Naruto was looking down again at his hands. "What's up Naruto?"

"Can we move a little bit further away? I don't want them to see me like this."

The two of them walked until they were out of sight of the other two, including Sasuke's Sharingan.

"…..Kakashi-sensei…..I can't use my light style." Naruto said in a distressed tone.

"Damn." Recently Naruto's light style had really begun to take a larger role in his fighting style, so losing it might cause an imbalance. "But I don't understand, how? Do you know why?"

Naruto nodded. "You know how my light chakra works right?"

Kakashi nodded as well. "Of course. You flow your chakra through your soul to purify it, and it becomes light chakra. What about it?"

"…."

"My soul isn't pure anymore. I think it's because I killed those men. It's messing with me. I can't purify my chakra properly. When I try, this happens." Naruto explained in the same distressed tone.

He stretched out his right hand and faced his palm upwards. Just like he had done thousands of times, he flowed his chakra through his soul and into his chakra points on his hands. He formed it how he normally would for his light ball jutsu, but instead of the normally bright and luminescent chakra, an unstable dark purple and blue orb formed instead, wobbling and fizzling out after a few seconds.

"See? Without a pure soul, "purified" chakra can't stay stable. Hell, it can't even be called purified chakra in this state, it's more like diluted chakra. But that isn't the big problem here." He paused with an angry and defeated look.

"Well then what is?"..."Naruto?"

"Kakashi-sensei…..My soul is still connected to all of my chakra pathways, and there are two things that can go wrong with that. Either I die…or the nine-tails is released. It's just a matter of which one happens first."

Kakashi straightened out in surprise. "What?! But why? How is it that bad already?"

Naruto shook his head. "It isn't. But it will be soon. Even if I don't use light ninjutsu anymore, my soul is already opened up to my chakra pathways, and it will slowly poison me. Actually it's even worse for me since my body is used to constantly having contact with a pure soul. It will make my chakra corrosive and more deadly as time goes on until eventually it'll kill me."

"As for the nine-tails, I know because it's been done before. Back when the order was still around, a form of punishment that was used rarely was for them to seal a lesser demon inside of someone, then open up their soul pathways like what the scroll did to me. Those demons were actually just chakra mutations, but that isn't the point. The difference is that they don't implement the threat of death into it, so their tainted soul is introduced to their chakra pathways. As you know a demon seal feeds off of the holder's chakra, so that person's now tainted chakra is mixed in with the seal, weakening it quickly. The only way to stop it is to change yourself and therefore change your soul to be more pure. If they couldn't do it, the demon was able to take control of their body and escape, killing them in the process. Of course no one ever fully purified their soul, but it was a sort of way to help people find some sort of salvation before death." Naruto explained.

"The nine-tails is way more powerful than a simple chakra mutation, so it'll break out with enough weakening of the seal. No amount of altering to the seal can stop the gradual erosion, and overtime it will only degrade faster and faster as more of my chakra is introduced to my soul, until eventually my chakra will naturally take on darker characteristics. My body will start to mutate and change accordingly, and eventually I'll die and release the nine-tails. Even if the world's best seal user were to continuously keep up my seal, my chakra would eventually become too corrosive and they wouldn't be able to do anything."

Naruto was now shaking. "Even if I die first and take the nine-tails with me, it'll just reappear in several years after my death, probably wherever I die. At this rate the most likely destination of my death is….. Konoha."

Kakashi tightened up. The idea of Konoha once again being attacked by the nine-tails was somewhat of a disturbing idea for him. "I…I see. And there's nothing that you can do to stop it? You can't close the pathways to your soul or something?"

"No I can't. The only way would be if my soul were pure again, but I don't see how I can accept death and have a pure soul at the same time."

Kakashi shook his head. "You can worry about that later. Right now you need to focus on your soul being pure. We need to work this out from the start. Tell me Naruto, what makes your soul impure?"

"What do you think? I'm starting to accept killing other people as a part of my life, how could my soul be pure after that?" Naruto said bitterly at he kicked at the ground and loosened some dirt below him.

"Ah, of course." Kakashi sighed. "Well Naruto…..I know that I said otherwise before, but have you considered just…not accepting it?"

"What? Just dealing with the pain all the time?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No, not killing at all. Honestly I messed up everything with that whole thing. I shouldn't have pushed you past killing the first man, or even to kill at all. I suppose that I didn't fully understand the emotional stress that you would go through after that because I'm so used to it. It's something that I do without even thinking, so I miscalculated. Maybe I was wrong, and you should follow your own way."

"But I thought that you said a Hokage would have to accept killing. Isn't that still true?"

"…..Yes it is. I know that your dream means a lot to you, but maybe you should put off being Hokage for now, at least until you can figure out how. I'm not telling you to give up your dream, but just maybe wait a little bit longer. Maybe the world will change and you might be able to become Hokage in the future without killing one day, but right now it's an inevitable fact of the shinobi lifestyle. Is there something else that you could pursue until you figure out how to be Hokage?"

"….."

Naruto sighed. "Well there is one thing I guess. The Order still needs to be restored, and technically I'm the person most suited to do it. Someone else could always do it, but it's customary for a Child of Light to take up the mantle in the case of a fall. I could rebuild the Order again, raising temples and more bases, gathering followers again." He smiled sadly with a hint of hope.

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah, that might be good for now. Like I said, it still might be possible for you to become Hokage in the future. If you become strong enough, it's possible that you could change things. Honestly, I hope you do."

Naruto's head raised. "What do you mean?"

Kakashi looked upwards at the sky reminiscently. "Well there's a dream that Jiraiya of the Sannin has. A dream that one day someone can move the world of shinobi away from its bloody state that it's in right now. He believes that the world is plagued with violence and has long wanted to find a way to bring peace to it. After sensei died, I began to share this dream. I don't want to have to see children kill and be killed, I don't want to see people hold their loved ones in their arms as they die anymore. I don't think that you do either, am I right?"

"Of course not! I want to save everybody!"

Kakashi smiled happily. "Then there you go. Reflect on that and see if maybe that's something you want to pursue, a world of peace. Until then, are you still able to work on other elemental jutsu?"

"Yeah I think that it should be fine as long as I don't purposefully try to purify my chakra. It's still going to advance until I can purify my soul again, but it shouldn't interfere with my other jutsu. I should be absolutely unrestricted for the next few weeks at least. I shouldn't feel any physical effects for a while either." Naruto nodded.

Kakashi started to walk back to Sasuke and Tenten. "Good. I want you to meditate for a while every day and try to figure out how you're going to go forward with this."

Before Kakashi could get far, Naruto spoke again. "Kakashi-sensei…Could you not tell Sasuke and Tenten? I don't want them to know about this. Not Kiba either."

"Of course, but you know that they would support you right?" Kakashi asked curiously.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, but I just want to keep it a secret for now. Hopefully I can get all of this under control fast enough that they won't notice."

"Very well. I'll keep it a secret from them. And Naruto…I'm sorry for what I put you through. I can't go back on that now, but I'll try my best to make up for it. If I'm being completely honest, when I saw you struggling, I froze up. I've never dealt with helping someone with that, and I didn't know what to do. Hell, I still don't' know how to help you completely." The silver haired Jounin said regrettably.

"Its fine, I get why it happened and I don't blame you." Naruto shook his head. "I'm just focusing right now on fixing this whole thing. And I guess that for now I'll just practice my crystal style."

Kakashi nodded and walked away towards Sasuke and Tenten to help them with their own jutsu.

He walked back into the clearing to see Sasuke going through some basic katas and Tenten practicing with her Tetsubo like he suggested. Tenten whipped around and wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. "Hey Kakashi-sensei. What was that about?"

"Oh nothing, Naruto just wanted to show me a new development with his jutsu. Anyway, let's get into the specifics of the jutsu that I showed you." Kakashi said, diverting the topic smoothly.

 **A Few Hours Later, Tazuna's House**

The trio of Genin slumped down at the dinner table tiredly, having expended their chakra for the day. Well, Naruto still had chakra to spare, but it didn't mean that he wasn't tired and hungry.

Kakashi also sat down across from Naruto as Tsunami set the food down on the table and also took a seat.

Everyone began to gather their food and dig in thankfully. Kakashi stopped eating for a moment and weaved his hands together with his elbows on the table and his hands in front of his mouth. "So now that we're all back to working order, let's talk strategy. How should we go forward dealing with Gato?"

Sasuke swallowed and also set down his utensils. "Hmm…Well what about a preemptive strike on their base? From what we've gathered, most if not all of Gato's forces are simple mercenaries, Zabuza and his hunter friend being the only shinobi that we know of."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, that seems like the most logical choice. After all if we can find their base of operations and hit them before they even know that we're coming, we should be able to at least deal a big blow against Gato. If we just wait, Zabuza will be back up and ready to fight. That isn't exactly something that I want to deal with again. Of course Zabuza might still come after us, but at least we would see it coming easier."

Tenten nodded in agreement as well. "Yeah and from what Naruto told me, you've been working on stealth and infiltration skills with them lately so it should be fresh in their minds."

Before Kakashi could respond, Inari slammed his fist on the table. "Why do you guys even try?! You're all gonna die if you do, Gato is way too strong. A few people can't even touch him!" He yelled angrily.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, insulted by the clear lack of respect from the boy concerning their skills. Naruto also did so, but much more subtly. Sasuke spoke first. "Excuse me? We're ninja, not some ragtag group of mercenaries. We aren't civilians that can just be brushed to the side by some rich idiot."

This only served to anger Inari more. "You have no idea what you're talking about! You all just live nice comfortable lives in your big safe village! None of you have any idea what suffering really is! You all have people who love and support you! You haven't seen your loved ones die before your eyes!"

He was stopped when Sasuke pushed him over and Naruto stood up angrily as well. Sasuke hadn't pushed him hard, but enough to knock him over and stop him in his tracks, Sharingan spinning in his eyes.

Tenten yelled in alarm and tried to hold Naruto back. "Calm down guys! You can't hurt the client!"

Naruto broke free of the hold easily. "No Tenten! This kid doesn't know what he's talking about! He needs to be put in his place. Compared to Sasuke, he doesn't know jack shit about losing someone!"

Kakashi held back Sasuke as well, him being the one more willing to cause physical harm.

Sasuke struggled as he yelled. "Let me go Kakashi-sensei! This brat doesn't even come close to knowing how the village treats Naruto! He doesn't even know anything about being alone! He's got a family who loves him who he can come home to every day, but he sits here saying shit about Naruto like that!"

'I swear, they aren't even thinking about themselves. They're just up in arms because the other one got insulted.' Kakashi and Tenten shook their heads with a collective sigh.

Inari rolled back over and looked at the two severely angered ninja with tears in his eyes.

Tsunami stepped in front of Inari defensively. "Stay away from my son! He may have been rude, but he did nothing to warrant such treatment!"

Sasuke slowed his thrashing to yell again. "Like hell he didn't! Fuck, we aren't even supposed to be on this mission! This is an A-rank mission and for some damn reason we kept going so that we could save this town, but this brat is sitting here telling us that we're just wasting our time, so maybe we shouldn't be here!" He growled angrily.

Sasuke whipped around and stormed out of the house, with Naruto following close behind. He slammed the door and they disappeared. Inari also ran upstairs to his room, crying all the way.

Kakashi sighed. "I'm sorry about those two. What they say is true, and I honestly can't find it in my heart to fault them. However I'll be sure to talk with them about proper mission etiquette and how to treat a client. Oh and I hope that you aren't too fond of about a third of your forest."

Tazuna paled, still sitting down at the table. "What?"

"Uhhh….yeah. When they get angry they start destroying trees. They grow back fast enough around Konoha for it not to be much of a problem, but I'm not so sure about the ones here. I could stop them, but then they would just keep that anger bottled up and bad things would ensue."

"I…I see. Well I truly am sorry about all of this. Tricking all of you onto this mission and Inari's behavior. Nothing was supposed to happen like this." Tazuna said regretfully.

Kakashi's point was proven when multiple trees were heard hitting the ground powerfully, no doubt alerting anyone in the area.

Out in the forest, Sasuke and Naruto were tearing through trees with their jutsu. Sasuke was using mostly lightning jutsu as a fire jutsu would burn the trees and landscape. It had recently become dark out, and Sasuke's jutsu were lighting up the area.

Naruto had no such problems as he used his wind, earth, and crystal styles to level the area. **"Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet!"**

A giant spiraling bullet of condensed wind shot out of Naruto's mouth and toppled a tree easily. It was a jutsu that Danzo had given him recently, so he was getting good practice in now.

Sasuke stepped back towards Naruto. "I fucking hate that kid."

Naruto nodded in return. "Same, he pisses me off. I can't stand weak people like that. It's one thing to be weak, but being weak and giving up is even worse. It makes me want to go take out Gato's base right now just to prove him wrong."

"…."

"Should we?" Sasuke asked slowly.

Naruto thought for a moment before responding. "Well it wouldn't hurt to do a little bit of recon. I'm sure that Kakashi-sensei will be mad if we actually do anything there though."

"True, but we could always find their base and set up a few traps around it. Maybe we can get a good layout of the outside to be ready if we go for a preemptive strike." Sasuke agreed quickly.

"….."

"Well let's go then. It shouldn't be too hard, after all it's just a bunch of mercenaries. We can deal with Kakashi-sensei later."

Both of them began to jump through the forested areas, looking for anything similar to a base.

About twenty minutes later, Naruto found a huge cone shaped building that was constructed around a large tree as support and suspended by long metal bridges. Overall it was fairly inefficient and clearly was built for aesthetic.

Naruto signaled Sasuke to come over silently. Once he did so, Sasuke face palmed. "That place has more weaknesses than a new academy student. Was he not worried about enemy ninja at all? The only people that this would stop is civilians." He whispered disappointedly.

"Yeah well that's better for us. Don't get lax though, this is about finding those weaknesses and staying hidden." Naruto sighed.

"I know, but it's still a little bit disappointing. Anyway, let's start scoping out the place and making plans. Knocking down that tree that it's built around would be a quick way to topple the place."

Naruto shook his head immediately. "We can't do that. Kakashi-sensei is probably gonna want to infiltrate silently and take out Gato. It might also be a good idea to see if he has his stash of money in there. It'll probably be a while before the people of wave can pay for an A-rank mission, so if we can get Gato's wealth everything might even out. Plus I doubt that Kakashi-sensei wants that many casualties to deal with."

"You're insane, even when you're angry you think about others. But yeah, I guess you're right. So then what are we supposed to do, just map out an outer layout of the building?"

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Pretty much. Kakashi-sensei is probably already gonna chew us out for this, so I don't think that actually engaging is a very good idea."

They both proceeded to take out small notebooks and write down notes about the building and its possible weaknesses while jumping around to get different angles. It was clear that Sasuke was right and it possessed a very large amount of weaknesses in favor of aesthetic.

They grouped back together high in the trees to compare their quick notes. Naruto had also taken the liberty of getting slightly closer to get a physical feel for the place. Apparently Gato had at least invested a large amount of money into good material that protected the base.

Naruto's eyes widened as a kunoichi flew towards them with twin swords coated in lightning. She had long light burgundy hair, black eyes, and together with a Kiri forehead protector, she also wore a simple cloth around her head, distinctively tied at both sides so as the ends of the material protruded upwards, while the remainder of hair is allowed to flow downwards. She wore a loose, pin-striped long-sleeved shirt with a dark obi around the waist, black pants which got much looser near the ends, resembling hakama, and striped leg-warmers.

Her swords were each slim and straight double-edged blades. Both blades also had an upward-curved bladed prong near the tip of one side of the blade and another one near the base of the blade's other side.

Sasuke and Naruto both began to move as fast as they could to get away, only looking back occasionally to check their progress. The Kunoichi was gaining on them fast, clearly at the speed of at least a high-Chunin, if not Jounin.

Naruto flew through multiple hand seals and released his chakra. **"Crystal God Rain!"**

A large wave of pink crystal shuriken formed in midair and flew towards the attacker, effectively making a wall to slow them. Unfortunately it didn't slow them much as she simply spun in midair with her twin lightning swords and tore a hole in the wall of shuriken before advancing once again.

Sasuke also released his own jutsu in an attempt to slow the kunoichi. **"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"** He yelled before releasing a large wave of fire in a more straight pattern than normal, engulfing the kunoichi.

As Sasuke spewed the flame, Naruto used yet another jutsu and fired it in the same place. **"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"**

The wave of wind combined with the flame and made it more powerful. It also served to blow out the fires that had caught on nearby trees. Sasuke halted his jutsu as they both channeled chakra into their legs and jumped away once again.

Naruto shook his head. "Who the fuck was that?!"

"Really?!" Sasuke said in disbelief. "Oh…I guess you weren't really around when we were doing research for the past few days. We looked more into the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist to find out more about Zabuza, and we also familiarized ourselves with the others in history. That was Ameyuri Ringo, the wielder of the twin lightning swords, Kiba. No one has seen her for years and some people theorized that she died of an incurable disease, but clearly they were wrong."

They both stopped and dropped down to the forest floor, ducking into some thick bushes. Naruto shook his head with a hand on his face. "Dammit. Another one of them, really? Is she chasing us anymore?"

Sasuke peeked his head out of the brush and looked around. "I don't think so. Her job is probably to patrol the base and keep people away. With Zabuza incapacitated she probably has to stay nearby just in case another squad of ninja tries to infiltrate. I'm guessing that Zabuza probably used his contacts to get her to help."

Naruto relaxed and slumped over. "That or Gato just hired both of them. I wouldn't put it past that rich bastard. Let's get back to the house to report this to Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said tiredly as he stood up. "Aw, Kakashi-sensei is gonna be angry at us for doing this."

"True, but I'm sure he'll be glad that we got info on the enemy. If we had rushed in without this information, Kakashi-sensei would get caught off guard if another swordsman of the mist all of a sudden showed up when he tried to sneak in there. If he had to fight Ameyuri and Zabuza, I doubt that even he would fare too well." Sasuke reasoned.

He nodded and they both silently made their way back to Tazuna's house, now on the lookout for an attacker.

Naruto slowly opened up the door and the two of them walked inside. No one was in the dining room, so they walked upstairs to Kakashi's room. When they opened the door, they were greeted to Kakashi and Tenten sitting down talking strategy.

Kakashi turned his head to look at the two panting boys. "Done already? I would have expected you to be going at it for hours, especially you Naruto."

Sasuke shook his head. "No time for that. We found Gato's base and scouted it out a bit. Bad news."

"You scouted out his base alone?! What were you thinking?" Kakashi hissed.

Naruto stepped forward as well. "We were thinking that sneaking around some mercenaries wouldn't be too hard, not that Gato would have another of the seven ninja swordsmen hired."

Tenten's eyes widened. "Another one?! Which one?"

"Ameyuri Ringo, apparently not dead from an incurable disease. She's guarding the perimeter. The only reason that we got away was that we distracted her for a minute and got outside of her range. She's fast as hell. A couple more seconds and she would have caught up to us." Naruto said as he plopped down on the floor.

Kakashi sighed. "I suppose that I should have expected this from you two, but I was hoping that you would at least consult me first. Although I guess I should thank you for getting that info. You were lucky enough not to lose anything from that and you got valuable information. It would have been bad not to know about her."

Sasuke turned to Naruto triumphantly. "See? I told you that he would say that."

Kakashi threw a water bottle at Sasuke's head violently. "Are you stupid?! It may have turned out alright, but Ameyuri Ringo is an extremely powerful shinobi! She was a very strong A-rank ninja years ago, so I wouldn't be surprised if she's at least bordering on high A-rank or low S-rank now. If she had taken you seriously, you wouldn't be here to report this. Luckily for you she has a reputation for playing with her food before she closes in on her prey, so she probably went slowly just to drive you away."

"So then she wasn't even trying?" Naruto groaned. "Well what the hell are we gonna do now?!"

Kakashi bit his thumb and smeared blood across his right palm. He formed five hand signs and slammed his hand on the ground, causing a poof of smoke to appear. When it cleared, a brown messenger hawk was perched on his leg.

Naruto tilted his head. "I thought that you had a personalized dog contract."

"I do, but when you're promoted to Chunin you have a messenger hawk assigned to you that you can summon to send fast messages. They can fly or reverse summon themselves back at a powerful chakra anchor keyed to their chakra signature from birth." He said as he wrote a message on a small piece of paper, most likely in code.

"A human can only reverse summon themselves to an extremely large chakra anchor usually residing in an animal summons area. Even then they have to have signed the contract and be talented enough to reverse summon themselves. These messenger hawks have much more chakra than normal animals, but still not a large amount. It makes it much easier to create a chakra anchor for them, and since their chakra signatures are relatively simple they don't have much trouble doing so.'

Kakashi rolled up the message and placed it in a small container on the hawk's leg. It nodded and disappeared with another poof of smoke. Kakashi then relaxed himself again and continued the explanation.

"You could liken them to Konoha's ninken like Akamaru in a way. They can understand human speech, and a few of them can even speak. Haru is mine, and he can speak. Although he usually stays quiet in front of people who aren't me. I basically raised him, so he's comfortable around me. He can also summon himself to me if I've recently summoned him and I stay in the same place by locking onto the residual chakra left behind from the summoning." He finished explaining with a slight smile.

Naruto's eyes sparkled. "Oooooh. That's awesome! I can't wait to be a Chunin."

"Well I'm glad you're excited, but now we need to go over our plans again. I sent a message to Hokage-sama informing him of the situation. I don't know what he'll choose. He might have us come back to Konoha or he could send reinforcements. This changes everything" Kakashi said, rubbing the back of his head.

A few minutes later, Haru popped back into the room. Kakashi opened the container and took out the paper inside. He read it out loud to avoid having to say it twice.

"Thank you for your report. I have dispatched Genma Shiranui, Raidō Namiashi, and Iwashi Tatami. As you know, they are the official Hokage Guard Platoon and together can perform the Hiraishin Technique. They will be transporting Might Guy along with them. A marker has been placed on this message for them to transport to in approximately twenty minutes. I leave it up to you whether or not to send the Genin back, however if you keep them there you must make sure that they have minimal interaction with Zabuza and Ameyuri, hopefully none."

"-Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage"

Tenten perked up. "Guy-sensei is coming? What about Lee and Neji?"

Naruto stepped in front of her and wave his hands around. "Hold on! Back up! Those three can use the Hiraishin?! Since when?!"

"Since sensei became the fourth Hokage. When they were assigned to be the Hokage Guard Platoon, he taught it to them in case of emergencies. Unfortunately they can only use it when they all link hands and concentrate, so it isn't viable in battle." Kakashi said, shifting back from the advancing Naruto.

Naruto ruffled his blond hair. "How did I not know about this before?! They would probably have plenty of stories about dad!"

'That's what he cares about? Doesn't he want help with the jutsu?' Kakashi sweatdropped inwardly.

"I'm sure that Hokage-sama just forgot to mention it. Besides, you have to remember that they don't know about your connection to sensei, so you'll have to be somewhat discreet about it." Kakashi warned.

Naruto nodded in confirmation. "Got it! Don't bring up the fact that he's my dad. Dad is not dad. Dad is not dad. Dad is not dad. Dad is not dad." He repeated over and over again.

About eighteen minutes later, four shinobi appeared in the middle of the room suddenly. Three of them stood in a triangle with linked hands, with Guy standing in the middle. They disconnected and Guy rushed towards Naruto, picking him up and spinning him around with comical streams of tears flowing from his eyes.

"Oh Naruto! I am so relieved to see that you are unharmed! I know that you are strong, but fighting one of the seven swordsmen of the mist must have been terrifying! I remember when Ebisu, Genma, and I encountered them as Genin! They are truly a terrifying sight!"

Naruto, still spinning through the air began to develop a serious case of dizziness. "G-Guy sensei! Please stop, everything is spinning."

The movement was suddenly halted and Naruto was lowered to the ground, which he promptly slumped over on, with his world still spinning. "My apologies Naruto! However when I heard the news about the development of your mission, I was overwhelmed with a sense of worry when I thought about what could have happened to you! It seems that I was somewhat too excited to find you in one piece!"

Naruto weakly waved it off from the ground, which he didn't seem like he was going to move away from any time soon. "S' fine Guy-sensbhghlehhhhhhh." He muttered as he tried his best to hold in his dinner, eventually failing and letting it flow freely.

Tenten reeled back in disgust. "Ah come on Naruto, you could have tried a bit harder to hold it in than that."

"M' surry Denden." Naruto slurred out as he rolled over in the opposite direction.

With a sigh, Tenten turned on her heel and began to walk out. "It's fine, I'll go get something to clean that up with."

As Guy profusely apologized to Naruto, Genma, Raidō, and Iwashi turned to Kakashi to discuss details of the mission at hand.

Genma was the first to shake his head in disbelief after hearing the full report. "Dammit Kakashi, your genin squad's first c-rank mission ends up with them fighting the Demon of the Hidden Mist Zabuza Momochi, Lightning Spirit Ameyuri Ringo who was said to be dead years ago, and who knows who else they could have. It's just like you to have shit like this happen to you."

Kakashi sighed and leaned back. "You don't know the half of it. This whole thing has been one thing after another. If they have a third swordsman of the hidden mist, I quit."

"Well we're just two Tokubetsu Jounin and a skilled Chunin, but we'll help out as much as we can. Guy is the one who can really help you out with something like this."

Of course, upon hearing his name Guy chose to bolt over and enter the conversation. "Indeed! I look forward to entering combat with a swordsman of the hidden mist! I will show them just how much my flames of youth have grown!"

Raidō, the man with a scar across his face spoke as well. "Oh yeah, that's right. You and Genma got cornered by them when you were genin right? All seven of them too."

"Indeed! Genma, Ebisu, and I were all unfortunately caught off guard by the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist! If my father had not rushed in to save us, we most likely would not have made it out alive!"

Raidō faltered for a moment as he raised his hand apologetically. "Ah, sorry Guy. I didn't mean to bring that up."

Guy shook his head as his eyes seemed to burn brighter. "Do not be sorry! I will not be saddened at the thought of a man's resolve as he showed his flames of youth! My father was a brave man, and I know that he did not regret what he did! Therefore, neither do I!"

By this point, Tenten and Sasuke had finished cleaning up and Naruto had mostly regained his balance. 'Geez Guy-sensei, you really swing hard.'

However Tenten's attention had been drawn from Naruto to the conversation that the adults were having. "Hold on Guy-sensei! You've run into all seven of the ninja swordsmen of the mist?"

"Yes indeed Tenten! Although I believe that their members have mostly passed away, so their swords either do not have users or have new undiscovered wielders. I remember that Ameyuri Ringo was also there, and she was just as fearsome as the rest! I was truly surprised to hear that she had indeed not passed away from an incurable disease, and she may have unknown abilities that we have not seen before."

Like the other swordsmen of the mist, Tenten wasn't exactly a fan of the wielders themselves. However she had always held some level of respect for Ameyuri Ringo for being able to stand with the rest of the swordsmen, regardless of the fact that she was the only female in the history of the swordsmen.

Of course much like the other six legendary swords, Tenten had done as much research as possible on her swords, Kiba. They weren't really her style since it actually required quite specialized skill with them specifically to be very good, but she always dreamed of adding any of the seven swords to her arsenal.

They didn't require as much specific training as Kabutowari or Nuibari, but they were still quite specialized if you wanted to use them for their full purpose, rather than just two sharp shortswords.

Before Tenten could get off track talking about swords like usual, Sasuke decided that it could be saved for later and interjected. "Yes, well while that's all well and good, we should address the problem at hand a bit more. At least two highly skilled members of the seven swordsmen are employed against us, and that's basically all we know. For all we know Gato could have more waiting to catch us off guard. Our only advantage here is knowing where their lair is and some of their members."

Kakashi sighed at Sasuke's unwillingness to relax a bit, but nodded. "That's true. Although on the bright side, now these guys are here without the enemy knowing, so we may be able to execute a surprise attack of our own. Naruto, report your findings about the enemy base. It may help to know any structural weaknesses."

Naruto straightened up in attention. "Hai. Essentially, Gato's base is a huge cone shaped building that is constructed around a large tree as support and suspended by long metal bridges. Sasuke and I determined that Gato clearly didn't have it designed for defense or camouflage, but aesthetic. However it seems that he did invest quite a bit into strong materials for the buildings, and he has a numerous guards posted in groups of three posted about every thirty or forty feet. The lighting is rather poor, so it seems that a nighttime assault would be in our favor. As you probably guessed, the obvious structural weaknesses that stand out are the bridges that connect the building to the surrounding trees, the trees themselves, and the center tree that Gato's base is built around."

Kakashi nodded and turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, any other details that you noticed?"

"Naruto covered nearly everything. In addition, I also noticed that scattered around the building are numerous hidden emergency exits, most likely for Gato in the case of a crisis. If we are able to locate these and stop all but one of them from being able to be opened, we could not only sneak in through that one passage, but we could probably also flush Gato out himself in a specific location if he was alerted of our presence." Sasuke explained steadily.

Naruto and Sasuke both handed their taken notes to Kakashi to review later, and Kakashi nodded once again. "Very good. I'm glad that you at least got a decent amount of info out of such a dangerous operation, not to mention unauthorized." He said with a glare at the end.

Both of them slightly shrank back from the clear irritation on Kakashi's face, but otherwise stayed silent and unmoving.

Iwashi finally spoke up and joined in. "Well we can't do anything about that now, so let's forget about it. We have the information, so let's use it as wisely as possible. First thing to address, are we still sticking with the plan of an ambush now that the enemy knows that we know where they are?"

After a bit of debate and consideration the group decided that they would indeed, stay the course and plan an ambush.

"That's great and all, but what are we going to do about Ameyuri and Zabuza? We also need to remember that there's that fake hunter-nin that saved Zabuza. We have no idea what his rank or abilities are, so he could potentially be just as dangerous as them." Said Tenten, who was among those who were slightly less eager to go through with said ambush.

At that, Guy crossed his arms and sat on the ground. "It's possible, however I believe that it is unlikely. From what Kakashi has told us about his battle against Zabuza, this fake hunter-nin stayed in the background waiting to help Zabuza in case of an emergency. If he were as powerful or near as powerful as Zabuza, he would have intervened when it was clear that Zabuza was in danger of taking critical damage. It's likely that his purpose was to wait in the shadows purely to play his part in the event of an escape and gain information. I'm willing to bet that he's probably high chunin level at best."

Tenten sighed a breath of relief at the knowledge, but was still somewhat on the edge about the plan. "That still leaves Zabuza and Ameyuri. What are we gonna do about them?"

Kakashi thought for a moment before responding. "Well I'm fairly confident that in a one on one fight against Zabuza now, I would be able to win even if we were both at full strength. As for Ameyuri, I think that Guy has that covered fairly well. Ameyuri should be fairly close to Zabuza in skill, and Guy can match me fairly well, sometimes flat out beating me. Not to mention we have these three here in case of an emergency." He stated, pointing to Genma, Raidō, and Iwashi.

"Meanwhile, I'm confident that you three" He said pointing towards the genin. "Could rather easily sneak into their base and snoop around. I think that you could also take on that Hunter-nin. Hell, maybe each of you individually could do it." Kakashi said with a proud eye smile.

Tenten once again sighed to herself, but accepted the reasoning.

Naruto jokingly turned away and acted as if he were blushing profusely. "Oh Kakashi-sensei, you always know how to make a genin blush."

'Well at least he retained his sense of humor.'

Genma lightly coughed to bring the conversation back. "Well now that we know the general roles of the group, but we're gonna need to go into specifics if we want this to work properly. First of all Kakashi, you said you can take on Zabuza in a one on one fight. However if we want that to happen, we're gonna need to extract Zabuza away from Gato's men and that Hunter-nin. Ameyuri shouldn't be too hard. All Guy has to do is get close enough, get noticed by her, then lead her away."

As Guy swore to do his best, and the usual shouts of youth, Kakashi nodded and continued on for Genma. "As for Zabuza, I don't think that should be too hard either. Zabuza is no idiot, but he's certainly proud of his own power. If I taunt him a bit, he'll probably order that Hunter-nin to stay out of the fight."

"And after that Sasuke, Tenten, and I can catch out that Hunter-nin and keep him from rejoining Zabuza!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.

Genma nodded. "That's right kid. And since Kakashi is easily the best here at stealth, he can sneak in once he's fully recovered and check out the place more thoroughly. Actually, if we can completely stay away from this being a loud mission, we might not have to fight much at all. Zabuza is only in this for the money, we know that much. If we can snatch away Gato's personal stash of money, we could always just pay Zabuza using some of that."

"We plan to take the money anyway, so it might work out that way. Unfortunately Ameyuri is still unknown. We don't know if she's here because Gato hired her or because she's with Zabuza. If it's the former, that could potentially double the amount we have to pay out. If it's the latter, we might just have to pay off Zabuza."

The shinobi continued to strategize and discuss possibilities of the mission for the next couple of hours before calling it a night and deciding to get some rest.

 **The Next Morning, Tazuna's House**

When Sasuke awoke the next morning, he noticed that the only person missing from the house at the time was Naruto. "Kakashi-sensei, where's Naruto? I haven't seen him since last night."

Kakashi looked up from his breakfast. "Hm? Oh, don't worry about him. He's just doing some solo training that he and I talked about the other day."

"Solo training? What's he doing?"

Kakashi looked back down and shook his head. "Nothing big, just some mental prep, meditation, and chakra control exercises. It's nothing strenuous or anything, so no need to worry. I think it requires quite a bit of focus though, so he's requested that we leave him be until he returns. He'll be doing this pretty much every day that he can, so don't think too much of it."

"Did he say why he needed mental prep and chakra control exercises?" Sasuke questioned.

"No, I didn't ask. I figure that after the whole fiasco with those two kiri nin, he needed time, so I didn't push it. I suggest that you don't either, regardless of your relationship with him. If he says he needs time to meditate, he needs time to meditate." Kakashi said rather seriously.

Sasuke just nodded and sat, starting to eat before he went out for the day to train.

 **One Mile from Tazuna's House**

Naruto slowly advanced up a tall tree, and once he reached a high enough point where he was obstructed by the foliage, he found a wide area to sit himself down and did so. A few months ago, he had discovered that it wasn't necessary to be in a traditional stance to mediate, as long as he was familiar with the mental state that he needed to be in. It turned out that at a certain point, everyone became comfortable with a certain position and stuck with it.

For Naruto, that ended up being him laying down with his arms behind his head. Unconventional, but it worked well for him. As long as he got into the right state of mind, he wouldn't fall asleep.

After a minute or so of clearing his mind, Naruto's mind began to shift. As it emptied, he began to sense the more subtle things. Not things in his environment, but things about himself. He could feel his chakra flowing through him, he could feel the massive amounts of stored chakra within himself, and he could feel chakra being replenished as it was naturally expended.

As he had done many times, he became more in tune with his own body, and its inner workings. Although it was slightly more difficult than normal, he sensed his own soul, and the chakra naturally flowing into it.

However, one thing was different than normal. There was always a feeling like there was a second chakra flowing through him, different from his own. He had long ago discovered that this was the nine-tails chakra seeping through the seal, mixing with his own chakra and expanding his chakra pool and coils. It was strange. Normal people had to use chakra control exercises or repetitive jutsu to expand their chakra pools and chakra coils.

But Naruto was different. He always was after all. All he ever had to do to get higher levels of chakra was wait. Grow. Grow, and let the nine-tails chakra work. Chakra control exercises never increased his chakra levels. Only the most chakra intensive jutsu were able to strain him enough to push further.

However now, it was amplified. He could tell that more of the nine-tails' chakra was entering his body as a result of gradual seal erosion. He was no seal expert, but he was sure that if he were to look at his own seal, he would notice small signs of erosion in certain places.

As he honed in on the foreign chakra, he began to drift away further and further. Not into sleep, but into his own mind. Eventually, he opened his eyes to see a colossal ornate gate in front of him. When he looked down, he noticed that the entire floor in the room was flooded. Not to the point of danger, but probably about half an inch of water.

Before Naruto could inspect any further, a large claw shot out from the cage, barely missing Naruto.

After a couple of seconds, the claw was brought back and the full view of its owner was revealed. A huge orange fox lounged behind bars. Or at least…close to a fox. It had much larger ears that pointed upwards, and clearly its arms and legs possessed some human qualities.

Naruto gulped, but otherwise held back any obvious signs of fear. "…You."

 **"Yes, me. So, you've finally come to grace me with your presence at last...boy."**

 **Author's Note:** Hey! I really am sorry about the HUGE wait for this chapter, and I know it wasn't all that action packed stuff that you guys like, but I swear that this was a chapter meant to set up for the next one, which will be absolutely full of action and reveals.

I don't want to keep you guys too long, since I really don't feel like I deserve it. You may have noticed that this chapter was a bit shorter than usual, but I felt that this was a good place to leave it.

You also may have noticed that I am staying true to what I have said, and the Nine-tails is by no means going to be Naruto's buddy right off the bat.

If you guys have ANY suggestions, please leave them in reviews and I will respond as quickly as possible. No question is a stupid question, and I'm glad to hear that people really like what I do.


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